DOCUMENTS
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
CITY OF JYEW YORK.
From No. 1 to 87 inclusive— From May, 1841, to May, 1842.
VOLUME VIII.
NEW YORK:
BRYANT AND BOGGS, PRINTERS,
INDEX.
[ A ]
Document No. 13.
A Law — To instruct the Water Commissioners to pro¬ ceed in the work of supplying the City of New York with water . - . 64
Document No. 2.
An Act — In relation to the collection of assessments and taxes .
Document No. 64.
An Act — To enable the Supervisors of the City and
County of New York to raise money by tax ... . 489
Document No. 77.
An Act — Respecting the collection of taxes in the City
of New York . 600
An Act — To amend the Revised Statutes . 603
Document No. 83.
An Act — Respecting the collection of taxes in the City
and County of New York . 643
Doc. No. 86.
An Act — In relation to Common Schools . 691
Document No. 48,
Annual Estimate — Of revenues and expenditures for
the year 1842 . 321
61857
iv
Document No. 1.
Annual Message — Of his Honor the Mayor . 3
Document No. 68.
Annual Statement — Of the Fulton and South Ferries 511
Document No. 54.
Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans — Re¬ port of the Committee in favor of granting a por¬ tion of land to the . 353
[ B ]
Document No. 40.
Board of Supervisors — Report of the, relative to the
tax of 1841 . 254
Document No. 49.
Board of Supervisors — Report of the, relative to in¬ creasing the salaries of the Assessors . 329
Document No. 77.
Board of Supervisors — Report of the Committee on
Laws, on the report of the . . 595
Document No. 67.
Butler , Benjamin F. — Report on petition of, for the
erection of a statue of Washington . . 503
[ 0 ]
Document No. 71.
Cabs — Report of the Committee on Laws, in relation
to the regulation of . . 539
Document No. 16.
Chief Engineer of the Fire Department — Annual
report of the . 81
Document No. 60.
City Inspector — Annual report of the, of the number
of interments . 441
Document No. 73.
City Inspector — Annual report of the, of firewood
and charcoal inspected and measured . 555
Document No. 74.
City Inspector — Annual report of the, of new build¬ ings erected . 559
Document No. 79.
Callow and Cantel — Report in regard to the establish¬ ment of Messrs . 609
Document No. 22.
Commissioners of School Monies — Report of the _ 117
Document No. 70.
Commissioners of the Alms House — Communication of the, in relation to the Public Buildings at Belle¬ vue, «fec . 537
Document No. 7.
Communication of the Counsel — Enclosing the opi¬ nion of the Supreme Court, in the case of Thomas Phoenix . 29
Document No. 8.
Communication from the Water Commissio?iers — In
reply to a preamble and resolution . 37
vi
Document No. 13.
Communication from the Comptroller — In reference to the creation of a further account of Water Stock . 57
Document No. 19.
Communication — From the Comptroller, relative to
the appropriations and expenditures for 1841 .... 109
Document No. 25.
Communication — From the Superintendent of Streets,
in relation to sweeping the streets . 171
Document No. 37.
Communication — From his Honor the Mayor, in rela¬ tion to building a Mad House on Blackwell’s Island . 243
Document No. 38.
Communication — From his Honor the Mayor, rela¬ tive to intelligence offices, hack and cab owners,
&c . 247
Document No. 47.
Communication — From his Honor the Mayor, in rela¬ tion to the Corporation’s seizing certain lands . . 315
Document No. 69.
Communication — From his Honor the Mayor, in re¬ lation to a suspension bridge, &c., &c . 529
Document No. 80.
Communication — From the Comptroller, relative to
the establishment of a Water Department . 617
Document No. 3.
Comptroller — Report of the, of contracts outstanding
and not completed May 1, 1841 . 19
Document No. 10.
Comptroller — Answer of the, in relation to the public
property leased by him . 49
Document No. 13.
Comptroller — Communication from the, in reference
to the creation of further amount of Water Stock 57
Document No. 19.
Comptroller — Communication from the, relative to
the appropriation and expenditure of 1841 .... 109
Document No. 27.
Comptroller — Quarterly report of the, in relation to
the accounts of the City Chamberlain . 187
Document No. 50.
Comptroller — Report of the, in relation to the ac¬ counts of the City Chamberlain . 335
Document No. 72.
Comptroller — Report of the, in relation to the ac¬ counts of the City Chamberlain . . 551
Document No. 80.
Comptroller — Communication from the, relative to
the establisment of a Water Department . 617
Document No. 82.
Comptroller — Communication from the, in relation to
the defalcation of Thomas Lloyd, late Collector 635
via
Document No. 84.
Comptroller— Report of the. on the accounts of the
Chamberlain, &c . - * <■ 647
Document No. 7.
Counsel to the Corporation— Communication from the, enclosing the opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Thomas Phoenix . 29
Document No. 41.
Counsel to the Corporation— Communication from the, enclosing the opinion of the Supreme Court, in relation to the Aldermen sitting as Judges, &c. 265
Document No. 43.
Counsel to the Corporation — Communication from the, enclosing the opinion of the Supreme Court in street cases, and for the collection of assess¬
ments . 285
Documents Nos. 18, 34, 56.
Croton Aqueduct Commissioner — Quarterly report of
the . 103, 223, 389
Documents Nos. 4, 21, 23, 28, 39, 45, 52, 62.'
Croton Aqueduct Committee— Report of the, in com¬ pliance with the ordinance, &c. 23, 55, 115, 165, 203, 251, 309, 435, 481
Document No 26.
Croton Aqueduct Committee — Report of the, in favor of discontinuing the salaries of the Water Commis¬ sioners . - . 1^0
ix
[ D ]
Document No. 57.
District Attorney— Report of the, with statistics of
crime . 407
[ K ]
Doc. No. 85.
Election Returns — Of election, held April, 1842.... 665
[ P ]
Document No. 14.
Ferry to Blackwell' s Island — Report of the Commit¬ tee on Charity and Alms House, in regard to the better regulation of the ferry to . 68
Document No. 68.
Fulton and South Ferries— Annual statement of the 511
[ G 1
Document No. 33.
Grand street and Williamsburgh Ferry— Report of the Ferry Committee, submitting the form of a lease for the . 215
[ I ]
Document No. 67.
Irving Washington — Report on petition of, for the
erection of a statue of Washington .
b
503
X
[ L ]
Documents Nos. 6, 30, 31, 35.
Lamps and Gas — Report of the Committee on, in
compliance with the ordinance, &c. 27, 209, 210, 241
Document No. 82.
Lloyd , Thomas— Communication from the Comp¬ troller, in relation to the defalcation of . 635
[ M ]
Document No. 1.
Mayor — Annual Message of the . 3
Document No. 9.
Mayor — Message from his Honor the, in relation to
taking the ayes and noes . . ; . 45
x Document No. 37.
Mayor — Communication from the, in relation to build¬ ing a Mad House on Blackwell’s Island . 243
Document No. 38.
Mayor — Communication from the, relative to intelli¬ gence offices, hack and cab owners, &c . 247
Document No. 47.
Mayor — Communication from the, in relation to the
Corporation’s seizing certain lands . 315
Document No. 69.
Mayor — Communication from his Honor the, in rela¬ tion to a suspension bridge, &c., &c . 529
Document No. 81.
Mayor — Message from his Honor the, setting forth his
reasons for not approving certain resolutions .... 629
xi
Document No. 75.
Memorial of the Trustees of the Public School So¬ ciety — Report on the . 567
[ N ]
Document No. 51.
New York and Albany Rail Road Company — Re¬ port of the Joint Special Committee on the com¬ munication from the . 339
[ O ]
Document No. 24.
Ordinance — To amend an ordinance in relation to
fires and the Fire Department . 169
Document No. 44.
Ordinance — To amend and alter chapter XY. of the
Revised Ordinances, <fcc . 301
Document No. 59.
Ordinance — To amend an ordinance entitled “Of
Streets and Roads” . 437
Document No. 64.
Ordinance — Making appropriations for expenditures
for 1842 . 492, 493
Document No. 71.
Ordinance — To regulate cabs in the City of New
York . 541
Document No. 80.
Ordinance — To regulate the Water Works in the City
of New York . 620
XU
[ p ]
Document No. 42.
Preamble and Resolution — In relation to the Croton Aqueduct . 283
Document No. 78.
Property at the foot of Sixty-first street — Report of the Committee ou Charity and Alms House, in
regard to purchasing . 605
Document No. 58.
Public Administrator — Annual report of the . 421
Document No. 70.
Public Buildings at Bellevue — Report of the Com¬ mittee in relation to the . 533
Documents Nos. 5, 11, 20, 29, 32, 46, 53, 63,
Public Offices and Repairs — Report of the Commit¬ tee on, in compliance with the ordinance, &c. 26, 53, 113, 207, 211, 313, 349, 483
Document No. 10.
Public Property — Answer of the Comptroller, in re¬ lation to the . . 49
Document No. 75.
Public School Society — Report of the Committee on
Laws, &c., on the memorial of the . 567
[ P ]
Document No. 71.
Regulation of Cabs — Report of the Committee on Laws, in relation to the . . .
539
xiii
Document No. 3.
Report — Of the Comptroller, of contracts outstanding
and not completed, May 1st, 1841 . 19
Documents Nos. 4, 12, 21, 23, 28, 39. 45, 52, 62. Report — Of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct,
in accordance with the ordinance, &c . 23, 55, 115,
165, 203, 251, 309, 345, 481
Documents Nos. 5, 11, 20, 29, 32, 46, 53, 63.
Report — Of the Committee on Public Offices and Re¬ pairs, in accordance with the ordinance, &c . 25, 53,
113, 207, 213, 313, 349, 483
Documents Nos. 6, 30, 31, 36, 87.
Report — Of the Committee on Lamps and Gas, in
compliance with the ordinance 27, 209, 211, 241, 699
Document No. 8.
Report — Of the organization of the Engineer Depart¬ ment of the Croton Aqueduct . 40
Document No. 14.
Report — Of the Committee on Charity and Alms
House, in regard to the better regulation of the ferry to Blackwell’s Island . 67
Document No. 15.
Report — Of the Superintendent of the Alms House . . 73
Document No. 16.
Report — (Annual) of the Chief Engineer of the Fire
Department . . . 81
XIV
Document No. 17.
jRey>or£— (Semi-annual) of the Water Commissioners,
July 12, 1S41 . . 83
Documents Nos. 18, 34, 56.
Report — (Quarterly) of the Croton Aqueduct Com¬ missioner . . . 103, 223, 389
Document No. 22.
Report — Of the Commissioners of School Moneys . . 117
Document No. 24.
Report — Of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water,
in relation to the Fire Department . 167
Document No. 26.
Report— Of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in favor of discontinuing the salaries of the Water Commissioners . . . .
Documents Nos. 27 and 50.
Report — (Quarterly) of the Comptroller, in relation to
the accounts of the City Chamberlain . 187, 335
Document No. 32.
Report— Of the Ferry Committee, submitting the form of a lease for Grand street and Williamsburgh Ferry ........ - - . . . . . 215
Document No. 35.
Report — Of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, relative to the quarrels between Engine Compa¬ nies, Nos. 44, 33 and 30 . 231
Document No. 40.
Report— Of a Select Committee of the Board of Su¬ pervisors, relative to the tax of 1841 .
253
XV
Document No. 44.
Report — Of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water,
on the annual report of the Chief Engineer. .. . 293
Document No. 49.
Report — Of the Committee of the Board of Supervi¬ sors, to increase the salary of the Assessors .... 329
Document No. 51.
Report — Of the Joint Special Committee, on the Com¬ munication from the New York and Albany Rail Road Company . . . . . . . . 339
Document No. 54.
Report— Of the Finance Committee, in favor of grant¬ ing a portion of common land to the Association for the benefit of Colored Orphans . 353
Document No. 55.
Report — (Semi-annual) of the Water Commissioners,
December 31, 1841.... ............... . _ 359
Document No. 57.
Report — Of the District Attorney, with statistics of
crime in this city, for twelve years last past . . .. 407
Document No. 58.
Report — (Annual) of the Public Administrator . 421
Document No. 59.
Report — Of the Law Committee, with an ordinance en¬ titled “ of streets and roads” . 435
Document No, 60.
Report — (Annual) of the City Inspector, of the num¬ ber of interments in the City of New York .... 441
xvi
Document No. 61.
Report — Of the Special Committee on the establish¬ ment of a Work House, and the re-organization of the Alms House Department . 453
Document No. 64.
Report— Of the Finance Committee, on the annual estimate of the revenues and expenditures of the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York . 485
Document No. 65.
Report — (Annual) of the Superintendent of the Poor
of the County of New York . 495
Document No. 66.
Report — (Annual) of the Trustees of the Sailors’
Snug Harbor . 499
Document No. 67.
Report— Of the Special Committee, on the application
for the erection of a Statue of Washington .... 503
Document No. 70.
Report — Of the Committee on Charity and Alms House, in relation to the Public Buildings at Bellevue, &c . , - - - 533
Document No. 71.
Report— Of the Committee on Laws, in relation to the
regulation of cabs . 539
Document No. 72.
Report — Of the Comptroller, in relation to the ac¬ counts of the Chamberlain . 551
xvn
Document No. 73.
Report — (Annual) of the City Inspector, of firewood and charcoal inspected and measured .
Document No. 74.
Report— (Annual) of the City Inspector, of the build¬ ings erected in the City of New York . .
Document No. 75.
Report _ Of the Committee on Laws, on the memorial
of the Trustees of the Public School Society . .
Document No. 76.
Report— Of the Committee on Laws, with a plan, in relation to the equalization of the wards of the city . .
Document No. 77.
Report _ Of the Committee on Laws, in relation to the
collection of taxes in the City of New York, &c. 595
Document No. 78.
Report— Of the Committeeon Charity and Alms House, in regard to purchasing property at the foot of Sixty-first street .
Document No. 79.
Report — Of the Committee on Arts and Sciences, in regard to the establishment of Messrs. Collon and Cantel .
609
Document No. 84.
Report— Of the Comptroller, on the accounts of the Chamberlain, with a statement of the funds of the
Corporation, . .
c
xvm
Doc. No. 85.
Return of Election— Held April 12, 1842 . 665
[ S ]
Document No. 66.
Sailors’ Snug Harbor — Annual report of the Trus¬ tees of the . 499
Document No. 68.
Stockholders— Of the New York and Brooklyn Union
Ferry Company, a list of the . 523
Documents Nos. 15, 65.
Superintendent of the Alms House — Report of the 73, 495
Document No. 25.
Superintendent of Streets — Communication from the,
in relation to sweeping the streets . 171
[ T ]
Document No. 75.
Trustees of the Pubic School Society — Report on the
memorial of the . 567
Document No. 66.
Trustees of the Sailors’ Snug Harbor — Annual Re¬ port of the . 499
T w ]
Document No. 76.
Wards of the City — Report in relation to the equali¬ zation of the . ggg
XIX
Document No. 8.
Water Commissioners — Communication from the, in
reply to a preamble and resolution . 3 7
Document No. 17.
Water Commissioners — Semi-annual Report of the, August 12, 1841 . 83
Document No. 55.
Water Commissioners — Semi-annual Report of the, December 31, 1841 .
359
DOCUMENT No. 1
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 31, 1841.
Mayor’s Office, ) New York, May 31, 1841. ^
Gentlemen of the Common Council:
I embrace this opportunity to express my gratitude to our constituents, for having elevated me to the honorable and important office I now hold. This demonstration of the people’s will, under all the circumstances which led to it, shows us that the electors of this city are ardently attached to a pure elective franchise ; that they will sustain those of their servants who honestly exercise their best judgment in the performance of duty, and will defend them against the persecution of official power. It also demonstrates that the combined efforts of sordid, social and political influence, cannot destroy the people’s devotion to principle, or prevent their expressing their hatred of corruption. With such con-
Doc. No. 1.]
4
stituency the performance of the most arduous duties is a pleasure, because the agent is assured that his honest efforts will be appreciated, and that his labors will be rewarded by the people’s approbation.
It is due to the community that I should state at the out¬ set of my official career, the principles by which my conduct shall be governed, and make a full exposition of the mea¬ sures which, in my judgment, the public welfare demands.
I recommend the strictest economy in the city govern¬ ment. All our measures should be in accordance with the simplicity of our republican institutions, and should be effectuated with the least expense to the citizen, consistent with an efficient administration of the laws, and a scrupu¬ lous regard for individual rights.
The city government should be so systematized as to be carried on by the least number of agents compatible with its importance. This will not only ensure efficiency in its operations, but will lessen the chances for peculation. The only legitimate province of a republican government in fiscal concerns, is to collect the revenue necessary for the purposes of the government, and so to apply it as will best subserve the interests of the people. The city, therefore, should, in my opinion, own no property which is not necessary either to be occupied by the departments of the government, or to enable the government to protect the public against imposi¬ tion, to preserve the health and ensure the safety and com¬ fort of the inhabitants — such are ferries, wharves arid slips, and the aqueduct to supply the city with water. The best interests of the people require that the city should not retain the position of landlord, incurring the expenses of keeping property in repair: compensating officers to manage such
5
[Doc. No. 1.
property and collect the rents. This increases the number of agents and causes expense not required in the legitimate purposes for which government is instituted. The manage¬ ment of property which is to be rented out, affords induce¬ ment and opportunity to the officers of the government to practice gross and injurious favoritism.
This city owns much real estate which is not and never will be required for the purposes of the city government ; and some, for example the Long Island farms, situate out of the territorial jurisdiction of the city, the custody of which may some day lead to great inconvenience. All such property should be sold, and the avails applied towards the payment of the city debt. The present depressed prices of real estate will not justify an immediate sale of the property, but it should be rented in such a manner as to enable the city to sell it as soon as real estate shall be restored to its actual value.
The Alms House at Bellevue, is badly calculated for the purposes to which it is appropriated. The city should pro¬ vide other and more appropriate buildings, and then that property should be sold.
Blackwell’s and Randall’s Islands, owned by the city,, are proper places to erect buildings for the Alms House Depart¬ ment, and also those necessary to accommodate the children from the Long Island farms. These islands will enable you to appropriate land for gardens ; such of the inmates of the Alms House as are able to work may be employed in them. This employment will not only add to their health and comfort, but will enable them to contribute towards their support.
The buildings to be erected should be simple and substan-
6
Doc. No. 1.]
tial, calculated more for the comfort of the inmates than for the admiration of observers.
The buildings for the Alms House Department should not be, as at present, one united mass, but in several detached buildings, separated by large spaces of land, that the inmates may be classified, so that the virtuous and unfortunate poor may not be compelled. to associate with the abandoned, and that their last hours may not be embittered by the presence and conversation of the profligate.
The present is an advantageous period to commence these buildings. Labor and materials are cheap ; the employment of those who are now, owing to the depressed state of busi¬ ness, without occupation, will be of great benefit to that un¬ fortunate class of our fellow citizens.
I recommend establishing a work house. There are many indolent, idle persons, who, even when work can be obtained, live by beggary, and who are supported by what their chil¬ dren beg from the sympathy of the public. Under our laws such persons are vagrants, and subject to be, as they fre¬ quently are, sent as such by magistrates to the Penitentiary : the same laws authorize the magistrates to send them to a work house. The Penitentiary should not be used as a place of confinement except for acts of moral turpitude and misdemeanors which require exemplary punishments as a warning to the community. We have no intermediate place between the Alms House and the Penitentiary. There are many, who though not worthy of being supported in the Alms House, are still not so vicious as to merit imprison¬ ment in the Penitentiary ; for that class a work house is re¬ quired. There are many persons, if compelled to the choice of working for themselves or for the public, will prefer the
7
[Doc. No. 1.
former, and thus become good citizens. It seems to me evi¬ dent that a work house judiciously used will relieve our streets from the beggars that frequently infest them, and restore to usefulness, numbers who, but for such an estab¬ lishment, would continue to be what they now are, a mere charge upon the public, living in idleness upon the public bounty.
The protection of the community against the depredations of felons, frequently makes it necessary that innocent per¬ sons who happen to be witnesses against arrested rogues and cannot procure bail for their appearance at court, should be imprisoned to ensure to the people the benefit of their tes¬ timony. The only place now provided for them, is the prison used for the detention of criminals. It is often the case that the innocent person who has been robbed of all his means, a stranger in the city without friends, is incarcerated within the same walls that contain the robber who despoiled him, and is compelled to live upon the same fare. It also occurs that the felon has influential friends, and by using the very means he stole, procures bail and is at large to commit other depredations upon the community, while the stranger that he robbed is in confinement amongst the most abandoned.
The mere statement of these facts to the representatives of a city so prominent as ours in her charitable institutions, is sufficient to ensure your early attention in affording a remedy for an abuse alike disreputable to the city and offensive to humanity. I suggest that provision be made authorizing the officers of justice to retain such witnesses in the debtors’ prison, with comfortable support and accommodation.
There is another class of persons who are imprisoned as witnesses — accomplices in the crimes committed ; such wit-
Doc. No. 1.]
8
nesses should be confined in the prison for criminals, and not sent amongst the debtors ; it will, therefore, be necessary to observe this distinction.
The prison for the detention of criminals is without suita¬ ble apartments for the sick. The only places in which the sick can be kept, are the ordinary cells. I advise that you cause rooms to be arranged, remedying this evil.
Our police system is defective. The check which latterly has been given to the commission of crime in this city, is owing to the vigilance and integrity of a portion of the po¬ lice department, and to the able and efficient administration of his duties by the present District Attorney, and not to the police system. By the existing system of police, the subor¬ dinate officers of the department, are only paid for services rendered in the arresting offenders, in restoring stolen pro¬ perty, and in discovering witnesses to establish that offences have been committed. The amount of the officers’ compen¬ sation depends entirely upon the number of crimes commit¬ ted, and their greatest legitimate emoluments arise from the rewards given by individuals for the recovery of property that has been stolen. A system which makes the commis¬ sion of crime a pecuniary benefit to the officers of justice, is calculated not only to increase crime, but also to corrupt the officers. A police system which looks only to the arrest of criminals and to the recovery of stolen property, has the practical effect of educating persons to the commission of of¬ fences. My observation while presiding in our criminal courts satisfied me that the present system of police in many instances had such an effect.
A number of shrewd and experienced depredators, such as burglars and counterfeiters, employ other and younger per-
9
[Doc. No. 1.
sons to assist them in their operations. These apprentices in crime are made to perform the dangerous portions of the work ; if detection follows, they are handed over as sacri¬ fices to offended justice, and the master spirits again select from among the honest young, others whom they educate in like manner to be immolated by the law when necessity re¬ quires. In this manner the experienced culprits are kept abroad and the number of depredators increased.
The method of preventing this evil is to establish an effi- eieht preventive police, a police which shall be paid for pre¬ venting crime. Such a’ system would not only protect our citizens from depredation, but would attain a more important and desirable object, it would preserve many of our youth from1 destruction. This, gentlemen, is an important subject ; it not only calls for the judgment of rulers, but should exer¬ cise the solicitude of philanthropists.
I therefore solicit the appointment from yoUr bodies, of a Joint Special Committee, with power, to make investigations and thoroughly' investigate this subject. I will be happy to co-operate with such Committee, and with the assistance of our District' Attorney and Counsel for the Board, I sincerely btelieve a system can be suggested which will meet your con¬ currence, receive the approbation of our constituents, and go far towards attaining the desired object.
I have requested from the Comptroller and* received a state¬ ment of the city debt up to the 1st of May last, from which the following appears :
Swrt'oife City Stocks of 1820 and ’29 - 4500,000 Less amount held by the Commissioners of
Sinking Fund . 91,200
Amount carried forward . . . $408,800
Doc. No. 1.]
10
Amount brought forward . $408,800
Public Building Stock . $515,000
Less amount held by the Commissioners
of Sinking Fund . 1 5,000
- 500,000
Fire Loan Stock, a contingent liability. $882,000
Less an equal amount of bonds and mort¬ gages owned by the Commissioners
of Sinking Fund . 882,000
- 000,000
Fire Indemnity Stock . $358,900
Less amount held by the Commissioners
of Sinking Fund . 122,700
- 236,200
Floating Debt Stock . $350,000
Less amount held by the Commissioners
of Sinking Fund . 168,210
- 187,790
Corporation Bonds — a contingent debt . $585,000 Less an equal amount of liens on real
estate . 585,000
- 000,000
Water Stocks . $7,949,377
Less amount held by the Commission¬ ers of Sinking Fund . 298,000
- 7,651,377
$8,978,167
The City Stocks which will be held by the Commission¬ ers of the Sinking Fund at the close of the present fiscal year, will be sufficient to cover, and in effect cancel the stock
11
[Doc. No. 1.
of 1820 and ’29, and the Public Building Stock. The Fire Loan Stock and Corporation Bonds are contingent liabilities of the city, for which bonds and mortgages, and other real estate liens, are held by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, which can be realized and applied to the liquidation of the debt at any time. These, therefore, may be properly considered as no part of the city debt, but rather as a loan of its credit on full and perfect securities.
The Fire Indemnity Stock is, for the most part, payable in twenty-seven years ; the provision for its redemption is an annual tax of $25,000 to be levied upon the real and per¬ sonal estate of the citizens, one-half of which tax would, however, accomplish its redemption in the time fixed.
The Floating Debt Stock is payable at the rate of $50,000 per annum, to meet which, a tax of the like sum is annually to be imposed.
It will be seen, therefore, that the principal of all the stocks here mentioned (and which constitute the entire debt of the city, except that for the construction of the Croton Aqueduct,) is fully provided for, and capable of being re¬ deemed without resort to the revenues of the Sinking Fund after the present year; or, in other words, the proper in¬ come of the Sinking Fund, on and after May next, when the Croton water will be introduced, will be applicable, solely, to the cancelling of the Water Stocks.
The water debt, as estimated, will reach $12,000,000. It is computed that the income of the Sinking Fund, as at pre¬ sent constituted, will alone be sufficient to meet and cancel it in forty years. It is to be remembered, too, that the Sink¬ ing Fund will, long before that period, be greatly enlarged
Doc. No. 1.]
12
from the avails of such real estate as the Corporation may sell from time to time.
The late Act of the Legislature to authorize a further loan on account of the construction of the aqueduct, will render the payment of our stock interest prompt and easy. It is enjoined upon the city to make all deficiency of interest by tax. I suggest that a concurrent ordinance be passed, by which this will be permanently established, and future le^ gislation in reference to it be thus rendered unnecessary.
This city has, for the last two years, been a target at which the Government of the State has aimed shafts of in¬ sult and injury. That Government, regardless of the remon¬ strances of our City Authorities; in opposition to the united efforts of the delegation from this city in the Assembly; and against the will of the people, passed laws violating rights and privileges secured to our citizens by the Charter of the City and by the Constitution of the State. One of these laws seeks to deprive the people of this city of their char¬ tered right to elect a portion of the Judges of their Criminal Courts, and appoints two Judges, at an increased annual ex¬ pense to the city of four thousand dollars; which Judges, to speak in the most respectful terms of them, are not, in ability or integrity, superior to Judges elected by the people, and do not make the Court more efficient. Another is the Re¬ gistry Law, adding a qualification to the voter of this city beyond that required of his brother citizen in any other county: a law so odious that even legislative temerity dared not make it applicable to the other districts of the State ; im¬ puting, by its provisions, dishonest intentions and practices to our citizens in the exercise of their elective franchise. These imputations were made by a government which at
13
[Doc. No. 1.
the same period had appointed to lucrative and important offices persons whose only known political claims were the frauds they had committed in the elections which led to the elevation of the appointing power. All this insult, abuse and injury has been heaped upon this city because its inha¬ bitants could not see integrity and ability where neither ex¬ isted, and were too honest to praise where censure was merited.
At the late session of the Legislature of the State, our predecessors applied for a law to enable the City Govern¬ ment to raise money to complete the construction of the Cro¬ ton Aqueduct. A bill for that purpose was prepared and for¬ warded to Albany. This application of the City Government was immediately seized upon by the authorities at Albany as a favorable opportunity to effect another encroachment upon the powers of our municipal government. An amendment was attached to the bill taking from the City Authorities and giving to the Croton Aqueduct Commissioners the power to direct and lay down the water pipes throughout the city. The officers of the City Government were informed that unless they would consent to receive this innovation, the bill should not become a law. The alternative thus pre¬ sented to the City of New York, was submission to future encroachments on her rights and powers, or suspending the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, and thus postponing the period when the water should be received into the city, causing loss of interest upon the capital invested in that work, and exposing the city to the payment of damages to the con¬ tractors for the non-payment of monies as they should be¬ come due. The City Government and the advocates of justice in the Legislature deemed it best (and correctly so)
Doc. No. 1.]
14
that the city should submit to pecuniary loss, rather than as¬ sent to farther innovations upon her rights and powers. The advocates of the proposed amendments, apprehending, I believe, that injury to them and their friends would arise from a defeat of the bill, yielded that to their own fears which they would not grant to justice, and at the very con¬ clusion of the session of the Legislature passed the law with¬ out the objectionable amendments.
This history of the proceedings of the State Government shows us, that while the present individuals are in power, it is dangerous to the chartered rights of this city to apply to them for any laws exclusively applicable to the municipal government of this city. I therefore urge upon you the ne¬ cessity of passing no ordinance, and of entering into no ar¬ rangement or agreement, which will make it necessary to apply for State legislative authority, -until our fellow citi¬ zens in the country shall elect members to the Legislature of the State, who, disregarding dictation, will appreciate and protect our chartered rights and privileges. For all the or¬ dinary purposes of the City Government, no law from the Legislature of the Slate is necessary. The general law of the State gives to our Board of Supervisors ample power and authority to levy a tax sufficient to defray all the ordi¬ nary and necessary expenses of the City Government. We should confine ourselves exclusively within such expenses.
The citizens of the State of New York are honest, intelli¬ gent, imbued with a strong sense of justice, and patriotic. Should their attention individually be called to the wrongs which this city has suffered, I know that they will elect in their several counties members to the Legislature, possessing their own strict integrity and intelligence; who will not
15
[Doc. No. 1.
only prevent future injury to this city, but will restore the rights which have been wrested from her. I suggest to your consideration whether it is not due alike to the interests of our constituents, and to the character for integrity of the in¬ habitants of the State at large, to address the citizens of the State, setting forth all the wrongs that have been committed upon us, and send it to each hamlet and dwelling, that jus¬ tice may not be withheld for want of knowledge of the facts.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
%
V *
DOCUMENT No. 2.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 24, 1841.
The following Act in relation to the Collection of Assess¬ ments and Taxes in the City of New York , was ordered to be printed and placed on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
AN ACT
To amend an Act entitled 11 An Act in relation to the Col. lection of Assessments and Taxes in the City and County of New York , and for other purposes ,” passed May 14, 1840.
[Passed May 7, 1841.]
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
§ 1. It shall be the duty of all Commissioners or Assessors authorized to make any estimate and assessment for any im¬ provement, to give notice to the owner or owners, and to the occupant or occupants of all houses and lots, and improved or unimproved lands affected thereby, that they have com¬ pleted the estimate and assessment : such notice shall be published daily, in at least two of the daily newspapers, for ten days successively, which shall be annually designated
Doc. No. 2.]
18
by the Common Council. The notice shall describe the limits embraced by such assessment, and shall contain a re¬ quest for all persons whose interests may be affected thereby, and who may be opposed to the same, to present their objec¬ tions in writing to the Chairman of the Commissioners or Assessors, within thirty days from the date of such notice; and if, after examining such objections, the Commissioners or Assessors shall not deem it proper to alter their assess¬ ment; or having altered it, there shall still be objections to the same, it shall be their duty to present such objections, with the assessment, to the Court, or persons authorized to confirm the same; but nothing herein contained shall con¬ flict with, or render invalid, the Act entitled “ An Act to re¬ duce several laws relating to the City of New York into one Act,” passed April 20th, 1839.
§ 2. The second section of the “ Act in relation to the collection of assessments and taxes in the City and County of New York, and for other purposes,” passed May 18, 1840, is hereby repealed.
§ 3. Nothing contained in the third section of the Act last above mentioned, shall be construed to prevent the Street Commissioner from selling separately any houses and lots, or other lands lying contiguous to each other and belonging to the same owner, which shall have been advertised in one parcel, and he is hereby authorized to sell the same sepa¬ rately, as the same may have been assessed.
§ 4. This Act shall take effect immediately.
State of New York , )
Secretary's Office. \
I have compared the preceding with an original Act of the Legislature of this State, on file in this office, and do certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of said original.
ARCHIBALD CAMPBELL,
, „ Deputy Secretary.
Albany , May 12, 1841.
DOCUMENT No. 3.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 31, 1841.
Report of the Comptroller , of Contracts outstanding and not completed May 1st, 1841, with the amount which will he payable thereon. Ordered to be printed and placed on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, £ New York, May 31, 1841. )
To the Ttnnorahle
The Common Council of the City of New York. Gentlemen —
In compliance with the 13th provision of the 4th section of title 2d, and chapter 5th, of the Revised Ordinances of the Corporation, I respectfully
REPORT
“ A statement of all contracts made, directed, or authorized hy resolution or ordinance of any previous Common Council,
Doc. No. 3.]
20
and not performed, completed and paid ; the expense of which, or any part whereof, shall remain to be paid from ihe City Treasury: and, also, the amount that shall so remain to be paid,” on the 1st day of May, 1841.
Two contracts for filling low ground, $2,700 each, as per re¬ turn of Wm. A. Walters, City Inspector, annexed.
One contract for 200 oil lamp frames, at $1 37^ each, amounting to $275, as per return of Jonas Chandler, Superintendent of Lamps and Gas, annexed.
One contract for six dozen of street hoes at $5 50 per doz., amounting to $33, as per return of William Gage, Su¬ perintendent of Streets, annexed.
One contract for steam washing apparatus for the Penitenti¬ ary, Blackwell’s Island, $930, as per return of John Myer, Superintendent of the Alms House, annexed.
The above contracts in all amount to the sum of $6,638, which remains to be paid from the City Treasury.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH, Comptroller
Alfred A. Smith, Esq..,
Comptroller.
Sir. — The amount of contract for the Steam Washing- Apparatus, is nine hundred and thirty dollars.
The above is for the wash-house at the Penitehtiary, Blackwell’s Island.
Respectfully.
JOHN MYER, Superintendent. Bellevue , May 20, 1841.
21
[Doc. No. 3.
Superintendent op Streets’ Office, ?
New York, May 15, 1841. $
Sir,— In reply to your communication of the 15th instant, I wrtn'd stale, that of uneUmpleted contracts, I have one with the owners of the second basin from the Battery to fill in, fl>r which I am to receive $225 when completed. I have also given an order to the Canton Company of Boston for six dozen of streit hoes, which are cash on their arrival, at $5 50 per dozen. There is due to farmers, pay for some six and eight loads of hay ; all of them owe for manure, and the amount will be deducted on settlement of their accounts. There is nothing else that I can call to mind, save the ordi¬ nary business of the department.
Yours respectfully.
WILLIAM CAGE,
Superintendent of Streets.
Alfred A. Smith, Esq.
Comptroller.
City Inspector’s Office, )
May 19, 1841. \
Sir,— There are but two contracts for filling low ground for which payment will be required during the ensuing year— one of which is with Peter Smith, amounting to about $2700, for which a requisition has already been made: the other is uncompleted, which will cost a like amount.
Yours respectfully.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS,
City Inspector.
Doc. No. 3.]
22
Office of Superintendent of Lamps and Gas, ) New York, May 17th, 1841. $
Sir, — In reply to your communication of the 15th instant, relative to unfinished contracts connected with the Lamp Department, I hereby inform yon that there is but one con¬ tract which remains to be fulfilled in which the Corporation is a party — which contract is for 2l)0 oil lamp frames, at $1 37£ each = $275.
Very respectfully yours.
JONAS CHANDLER,
Superintendent of Lamps aud Gas.
DOCUMENT No. 4.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 31, 1841.
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Committee , in compliance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accountability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Or¬ dered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in accordance with the ordinance providing for the accountability of Com¬ mittees, would respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting of the Committee, held on the 28th in¬ stant, a majority being present, the Aqueduct Commissioner presented the bills for the past month, which were audited by the undersigned, and two requisitions made upon the Comptroller, amounting to $27,127 09, which were for the following :
Doc. No. 4.]
24
Workmen’s wages . . $ 1,638 98
Cartage of pipes, &c . - 911 38
Stopcocks and hydrants . . 3,565 20
Pipes . 17,691 02
Digging, filling and paving . 3,513 50
Making and repairing tools, &c . 101 90
.Office expenses . 6 11
$27,427 09
Deduct for cash advanced . 300 00
$27,127 09
MOSES G. LEONARD,
F. R. LEE.
New York, May 31, 1841.
DOCUMENT No. 5.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 31, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Officers and Repairs, in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the ac¬ countability of Executive Committees. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accord¬ ance with the Ordinance providing for the accountability of Committees, respectfully
REPORT:
That at a meeting of said Committee, held on the 28th instant, a majority being present, the Superintendent of Buildings presented several bills and accounts which were audited, and a requisition upon the Comptroller for the same was signed by the members of the Committee present,
Doc. No. 5.]
26
amount $4346 14. Of this amount there was incurred and charged to the Fire Department —
For workmen’s wages . $1432 49
Materials and supplies . . 576 98
$2009 47
To general account of repairs and supplies for
workmen’s wages . 1112 52
Materials, &c. for account of repairs and sup¬ plies . 1224 15
$2336 67
Amounting together as above, to . $4346 14
FREDERICK R. LEE, C. BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON,
DOCUMENT No. 6.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 31, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Lamps and Gas , in compli¬ ance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accounta¬ bility of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Lamps and Gas beg leave respect¬ fully to
REPORT :
In compliance with an ordinance relative to Executive and other Committees, that they have authorized a contract to be made by the Superintendent of Lamps and Gas, with Messrs. D. & A. Kingsland, of this city, for ten thousand gal¬ lons of summer-strained sperm oil, at the rate of eighty cents per gallon ; that being the lowest offer presented to the Com¬ mittee.
EDWARD S. INNES,
C. BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON.
t*8I ,i£ YAM
iu\v.'u» i : \ ,£ *&) V, ;u^«v.a HO aoiV'.vHv-itO »M itoopft
• ■v' H «0 bo'Vj\>'vO
.»*:a.i6 ,81.131’// .1 ..
-i09tj8:>i av« • §<*1 -'-iQ biM- ! no < ji.tiaimoO ariT
svitnocjxM, o) ; / ; ; !!>-io iiB til -inBilqffioO’ nl
.
rtliw f u;x) bnr. , J Hi'jbt mu; it in- ftb«tn 8<f o)
-l«$ bnfiatrodJ tin? tol •) :>idJ ‘io,bat;Uv;:i>i ,AA .G
'
iitoQsxb Of -.■/<>[, . : uolifi .. rWJ
.3ijMita
,83 A M .8 as A .¥(13
DOCUMENT No. 7,
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
Communication of the Counsel of the Corporation , enclos¬ ing the Opinion of the Supreme Court in the Case of Thomas Phoenix , late District Attorney. Ordered to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk,
The undersigned herewith transmits to the Honorable the Board of Aldermen a copy of the opinion of the Supreme Court on the application of Thomas Phoenix, late District At¬ torney, fora mandamus to compel the payment of $6,312 46 for costs on the collection of fines and recognizances, over and above his salary, and the total amount received by him for fines and forfeited recognizances.
The opinion of the Court is against the right of Mr. Phoe¬ nix to recover; and establishes the principle that Mr. Phoe¬ nix had no right to make any charge against the county, beyond his salary; and that having received to his own use
Doc. No. 7.]
30
the costs in all cases where they were collectable, amounting to nearly $12,000, the county was not answerable for the claim now presented.
The Supreme Court also decide that in a case such as this, where the Board of Supervisors proceed to audit an ac¬ count, they are not to be controlled by a mandamus, in the exercise of that discretion which legally belongs to them, as to the amount of the allowance.
, Respectfully submitted.
P. A. COWDREY,
Counsel of the Corporation.
OPINION
The People, on the
relation of Thomas Phoenix, vs.
The Board of Supervisors of the City and County of New York
By the Court. — Bronson, J. — The Supervisors have re¬ turned, among other things, that no part of the sum claimed is due; and the relator, instead of traversing, has, in effect, demurred to the return. But he insists that this part of the return should be regarded as a mere inference from the other matters set forth by the Supervisors, and not as the allegation of a distinct substantive fact. Although I am not prepared to say that this argument can be supported, I shall nevertheless give it all the force of truth, for the pur¬ pose of considering the other questions which the case pre¬ sents.
Including salary, the relator has already received eigh¬ teen thousand dollars from the County of New York for his three years services. He has also received costs in those cases where costs were collected from the persons sued, pro¬ bably amounting to several thousand dollars more. Al¬ though this may be regarded as an ample compensation for the services rendered, it is still no answer to the present ap¬ plication, if by law he is entitled to the further sum of six thousand dollars, which the writ demands. The examina¬ tion of his title to that sum may involve two general consi¬ derations: first , whether the salary fixed by the Common Council was the legal measure of his compensation ; and, Second, whether the relator’s account has not been audited and adjusted pursuant to law, and beyond the power of this Court to control the matter by mandamus.
I. Formerly all District Attorneys were compensated by fees , and their accounts were audited in the Court of Ex-
] Motion for perempto- I ry mandamus on re- I turn to alternative writ.
Doc. No. 7.]
32
chequer and paid from the State Treasury . 2 R. S. 21 ; and 1 Id., 415, § 3. By the Act of 1818 the fees were mo¬ dified, and their accounts were made a charge upon the county , to be assessed and collected by the Supervisors as a part of the contingent expenses of the county. Statutes, 1818, p. 306, Chap. 283. Then came the Act of March 16, 1821, which provided that the District Attorney of the County of New York should receive an annual salary of three thou¬ sand dollars, “ in lieu of the compensation which the County of New York is now required to pay him to which a fur¬ ther clause was added, “ that it shall not thereafter [the pass¬ ing of the Act] be obligatory upon the Supervisors of said County to allow any of the accounts of the said District Attorney for services thereafter to be rendered ; nor shall it be obligatory upon the said county to pay any such ac¬ counts, nor to pay hitn any other compensation whatsoever for any services which he may thereafter render .” Sta¬ tutes 1821, p. 91, § 1. This statute plainly covers the whole ground, and the relator must get rid of it before he can make title to any compensation beyond his salary.
The Act of 1821 was so far modified by the Revised Sta¬ tutes as to authorize the Common Council of the City of New York to fix the salary of the District Attorney at a sum not less than two thousand five hundred, nor more than three thousand five hundred dollars. 1 R. S. 383, s. 95. This touched nothing but the amount of the salary and the mode of fixing it. As to every thing else, the Act of 1821 re¬ mained in full force. But it is said that although the Act was not, in terms, repealed by the general repealing statute, yet that it was, in efFect, abrogated by the 10th, 11th and 14th sections of that statute. 2 R. S. ?79. I have read those sections with attention without being able to perceive that they have any bearing on the question.
But should it be conceded that the Act of 1821 has been repealed, I do not see how it can aid the relator. The Re¬ vised Statutes t provide, that “ the District Attorney of the
33
[Doc. No. 7.
City and County of New York shall receive for his services an annual salary, not less, &c.,to be fixed and paid by the Common Council of that City.” 1 R. S. 3S3, s. 95. The language is general, including all services, and there is nothing to limit or qualify its influence. We may just as well except criminal prosecutions from the operation of this provision, as we can except suits for fines and upon forfeited recognizances. The justice of this remark is the more ap¬ parent from the fact that the remaining clause of the same section contains just such a qualification in relation to other District Attorneys as the Counsel wishes to have understood iu the clause relating to the District Attorney of New York. “ The District Attorney of all the other counties in the State shall be paid for their services in conducting criminal •prose¬ cutions , by their respective counties, &c.” The Legislature evidently intended that the salary to be paid by the Common Council should be the only charge upon the County of New York for the services of its District Attorney. The fees which he receives in civil suits he may retain, in addition to the salary; but a fuilure to collect those fees from the per¬ sons sued will not authorize him to charge them to the county. See The People vs. Van Wyck, 4 Cow. 260. The Act of 1839, [Statutes of 1839, p. 317) which give costs to the New York District Attorney in certain cases, cannot aid the relator, because it was passed since he left the office.
One or two arguments for the relator on this branch of the case remain to be noticed. By the third section of the Act of 1821 fines and forfeited recognizances in New York were to be collected by the Sheriff of that County. Stat. 1821, p. 91. This provision was left in force when 'the laws were subsequently revised. 2 R. S. 487, s. 43. But this section was repealed soon after the new code took effect, and three new sections were substituted, which authorized the District Attorney to sue for the fines of defaulting jurors. Stat. 1830, p. 399, s. 52. It is said that this statute imposed a new duty upon the District Attorney, and that he is conse-
Doc. No. 7.]
34
quently entitled to compensation beyond the amount of his salary. The language of the statute is, that the District At¬ torney may proceed to collect the fines by actions of debt, to be brought in the Court of Common Pleas; and that judg¬ ments may be entered for the amount of the fine and costs of suit. If this must be understood as an imperative provi¬ sion, it is not quite clear that it imposed a burden upon the District Attorney. He might be very willing to sue for these fines and take the chance of collecting costs from the per¬ sons sued. But should it be conceded that the statute im¬ posed a new and onerous duty upon the District Attorney, it does not follow that he is entitled to any additional com¬ pensation on that account. By charging the Attorney with the duty of suing for fines, without making provision for the payment of costs, the Legislature has, in effect, declared, that the salary of the officer is to be deemed the compensa¬ tion for these, as well as for other sevices. It is impossible for a salary officer to make title to an increased compensa¬ tion on the sole ground that a new duty has been cast upon him by the Legislature. There are few State Officers, whether executive or judicial, who have not often been charged with new duties; and yet no one has, I presume, ever thought that this gave him a legal title to increased compen¬ sation. Whether the pay shall be increased with the burden, is a question which addresses itself to the Legislature. The Courts have nothing to do with it.
Another argument is, that the Supervisors, by allowing a part of the relator’s account, have admitted his right to these costs, and cannot now resist the payment of the balance which he claims. But the voluntary payment of a part of a demand cannot be construed into an admission of liability for the residue, where, as in this case, such liability was ex¬ pressly denied.
II. Should it be conceded that the relator is entitled to something beyond his salary, I see no ground on which we
35
' [Doc. No. 7.
can interfere by mandamus. The Supervisors have not re¬ fused to audit the account. They have only exercised their discretion as to the extent of the allowance, and in such a case a mandamus will not lie. The People vs. Supervisors of Albany , 12 John. 414; Hall vs. Supervisors of Oneida , 19 Johns. 259; The People vs. Supervisors of Dutchess , 9 Wend. 50S. If the Supervisors have gone too far in dis¬ allowing one-tliird of the amount claimed, the relator has no remedy in this form of proceeding, if he has in any other.
But it is said that the fee bill governed the amount of the relator’s compensation, and that the Supervisors had no dis¬ cretion in the premises. If the relator’s costs had been taxed as against the persons sued — a fact which does not appear — I am not prepared to say that that would be conclusive upon the county. But it is unnecessary to decide that question. A portion of the amount rejected by the Supervisors con¬ sisted of a charge of two dollars and fifty cents in each case where a fine had been paid without suit. These charges did not depend on the fee bill, and the Supervisors were at liberty to allow as much or as little as they thought proper. An¬ other considerable portion of the account was rejected on the ground that the relator had in many instances brought several suits and charged several bills of costs where there should have been but one. This fact, which is stated in the returns, is admitted in the demurrer, and the Supervisors were right in disallowing the charges to which the objec¬ tion applies. In the remaining cases, where deductions were made from the account, the Supervisors allowed the several bills of cost, at a less sum in the aggregate than the relator had charged, but it does not appear from the return but that the full amount of taxable costs was allowed in every in¬ stance.
I will only add a single remark, covering the whole of this branch of the case; indeed, it is sufficient to dispose of the whole matter. Assuming that the relator is entitled to the full amount of his taxable costs in all the suits which he
Doc. No. 7.]
36
brought, there is nothing in this return which will autho¬ rize us to say that the Supervisors have fallen short of that measure of justice in the allowance which they made.
In every view of the case we are of opinion that the claim of the relator must fail.
Motion denied.
(A Copy.) GREENE C. BRONSON.
DOCUMENT No. 8.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
Communication from the Water Commissioners , in reply to a Preamble and Resolution adopted by the Board of Aldermen. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Water Commissioner’s Office, ) New York, June 14, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
The Water Commissioners acknowledge the receipt of the Preamble and Resolution, passed by the Board of Aldermen, calling upon the Water Commissioners to report the names of the persons employed by them, the times of their appoint¬ ment, and their pay, and if the work under their charge is not so far completed as to allow a nominal salary to the
Doc. No. 8.]
38
Commissioners, and a reduction of their numbers, or whether the public interest requires their further services, reply that although the State Statutes, organizing this Board, only au¬ thorizes the Common Council to call fora “general exhibition of the state of the work, including a full detail of the amount expended, and of the progress made by them in the further¬ ance of the contemplated object;” yet the Commissioners are ready always to communicate all the facts connected with this office, which can reasonably be asked for.
Mr. Jervis, the Chief Engineer’s report hereto annexed, gives in detail, the facts required, relating to the officers of the Engineer Department, and the time of their appointment, by which it will appear that the corps of Engineers has been materially curtailed, that there are no engineers now em¬ ployed in this department excepting those appointed by our predecessors, and whom we found in office.
This list of the Chief Engineer, with the Clerk appointed by the present Board, (whose salary is one thousand five hundred dollars per annum,) comprises all the officers in this department.
It is not presumed that persons receiving daily wages are embraced in your resolution.
In relation to the progress and state of the work, we re¬ mark that the work done the last Spring and that now under progress of being executed, and which will be done by the 1st of December next, will show, (according to the estimates of our Engineers, heretofore furnished the Comptroller and the Common Council,) a greater amount of money expended for work done, than was done or expended in any one year by our predecessors in office.
There are now upwards of 2000 men daily employed on the work north of Murray’s Hill, exclusive of those employ¬ ed in preparing the stone and materials.
The bridge across the Harlaem River, the Reservoirs, the Manhattanville and Clendining Valley works were consi-
39 [Doc. No. 8.
dered by our predecessors, among the heaviest and most in¬ tricate subjects of the whole work.
In reply to so much of the Preamble and Resolution of the Board of Aldermen, as calls for an opinion from us, as to whether our services as Commissioners might not be dis¬ pensed with, or a nominal salary received, we would sug¬ gest, that if the Board found no difficulty in asking us this question, we nevertheless (being immediately interested,) find a delicacy in answering it.
In relation to the curtailment of the number of the Com¬ missioners, there is the like difficulty as to our expressing opinions, either as to ourselves or the fitness or appropriate¬ ness of a committee of the Common Council performing this duty ; but as our numbers and powers are regulated by the State, it is presumed that no action could be had, in these particulars, excepting by the Legislature ; and that therefore no injury can arise from our only placing before you the list of the persons employed, the state of the work, and the amount of money to be expended, and leaving your Honora¬ ble Body, from the facts communicated, to form an opinion for yourselves.
All which is respectfully reported.
SAMUEL STEYENS,
President of the Board of
Water Commissioners.
REPORT
ON THE
*
Organization of the Engineer Department
OF THE
CROTON AQUEDUCT.
New York, June 4, 1841.
To the Honorable the Board of Water Com- ) missioners of the City of New York , $
Gentlemen —
At the request of your President, I have prepared the following statement of the present organization of the Engi¬ neer Department of the Croton Aqueduct. I have not had time to look up the exact date of appointment, but presume the statement will contain an approximation sufficient for the object. There have been some transfers from one di¬ vision to another, but the time of full employment in the de¬ partment, without reference to the division, is given. The persons employed as Axemen, have no regular appointment, but are employed by the Resident Engineers as their services are wanted.
Per Annum.
The Chief Engineer, appointed Oct., 183(5, salary$5000 00 H. Allen, principal Assistant Engineer, appointed
March, 1838 . 3500 00
FIRST DIVISION.
E. French, Resident Engineer, appointed 1836,
salary . <
M. O. Davidson, Assistant Engineer, appointed 1836, salary . . .
Per Month.
& 150 00
100 00
41
[Doc. No. 8.
Per Month.
D. Adamson, Inspector, appointed March, 1839,
salary . $ 60 00
Per Day.
J. Ogilby, Axeman, occasionally . 1 25
SECOND DIVISION.
. Per Month.
H. T. Anthony, Resident Engineer, appointed 1836,
salary . $125 00
S. Sanford, Inspector, appointed March, 1839, salary 60 00 An Axeman occasionally employed, though none
during the last month.
FOURTH DIVISION.
P. Hastie, Resident Engineer, appointed January, PerMonth
1837, salary . $150 00
F. B. Tower, First Assistant Engineer, appointed
summer of 1837, salary . 100 00
James Renwick, jun., First Assistant Engineer, ap¬ pointed winter of 1837, salary . 87 50
E. H. Tracy, First Assistant Engineer, appointed
March, 1838, salary . . ioo 00
J. E. Henry, First Assistant Engineer, appointed
March, 1838, salary . 75 qo
J. C. Campbell, Second Assistant Engineer, appoint¬ ed March, 1838, salary . 60 00
Wm, Anderson, Second Assistant Engineer, ap¬ pointed January, 1839, salary . 50 00
E. Routon, Second Assistant Engineer, appointed
January, 1839, salary . 50 00
R. M. Hasbrouck, Rodman, appointed March, 1839,
salary . 40 00
J. H. Osborn, Rodman, appointed March, 1839,
salary . 40 00
T. H. Lane, Rodman, appointed March, 1841, salary 40 00
J. Yervalon, Inspector, appointed August, 1839,
salary . 60 00
Doc. No. 8.]
42
Per Month.
Robert Adams, Inspector, appointed April, 1840,
salary . . . . . . $ 60 00
H. S. Meeks, Inspector, appointed April, 1840,
salary . - . 60 00
Gurdon Halsey, Inspector, appointed August, 1840,
salary . 60 00
George Watson, Inspector, appointed March, 1841,
salary . 60 00
S. M. Berrian, Inspector, appointed March, 1841,
salary . 60 00
Benjamin Hacker, Inspector, appointed March,
1841, salary . 60 00
T. S. Schramche/ Draftsman, appointed February,
1839, salary . 75 00
James Morris, Wm, Brown, and John Lades, are
now employed as Axemen, at . 1 25
I am requested by your President to state whether this department can be now reduced consistent with the interest of the work. In reply to which, I can only say, that in my opinion, no reduction can be made at this time. On the First Division , the work of extending the Croton Dam is difficult and important, requiring much more attention in its supervision than ordinary work of the same amount ; and this, with other duties on this Division, will not admit any reduction during the season of laying masonry.
On the Second Division , the Resident Engineer and In¬ spector, are retained for the completion of Section 33, which crosses Mill River. This work, it is expected, will be com¬ pleted in about two months, when this branch of the de¬ partment will no longer be required.
On the Third Division , there is no Engineer ; such at¬ tention as is required to supervise the repairs is given by the Resident Engineer of the Fourth Division.
On the Fourth Division, the great body of the depart-
43
[Doc. No. 8.
ment are now employed. Here it must be observed, a large amount of work is to be done this season, and the principal part is on heavy structures involving much important detail, requiring great care in fully securing the plan of work and its faithful execution ; which, together with the duty of pre¬ paring the monthly and final estimates will require the most diligent attention of this department. As the work progress¬ es, I shall report on the reductions that may be made from time to time, so as to bring the expenses of this department to the lowest amount that will secure the degree of energy in the supervision which is indispensable to the economical and successful completion of the work.
Respectfully submitted.
JOHN B. JERYIS,
Chief Engineer of the New York Water Works.
DOCUMENT No. 9.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
The following Message was received from his Honor the Mayor , and ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, j New York, June 14, 1841. \
To the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York :
Gentlemen — I return to your body the accompanying reports and resolutions and ordinances, viz. : Report of the Street Committee, in favor of flagging, &c., in Seventeenth street, between Irving place and Union place, and resolu¬ tion. Report of same Committee, in favor of regulating the Fifth avenue, from Twenty-first to Twenty-eighth street, and resolution. Report of same Committee, in favor of paving Ninth street, from Avenue C to Avenue D, and reso¬ lution. An ordinance to regulate and pave Washington
Doc. No. 9.]
46
street. An ordinance to built a sfewer in Morris street. An ordinance for deepening Storm’s Basin. An ordinance to pave, &c., southerly sidewalk of Twenty-eighth street, be¬ tween the Third and Fourth avenues. An ordinance for a well and pump in Twenty-third street.
These were originated in your Board ; they have been concurred in by the Board of Assistant Aldermen ; and by that body sent to me for my approbation. These direct im¬ provements involving an expenditure of public moneys, or requiring assessments upon citizens, and have been passed without calling or taking the ayes and noes in either branch of the Municipal Legislature. For this omission I am con¬ strained to withhold my approval of them, although there is no objection to the improvements contemplated.
The seventh section of the amended Charter of the City of New York requires, that, “ all resolutions and reports of Committees which shall recommend any -specific improve¬ ment involving the appropriation of public moneys, or taxing or assessing the citizens of the said city, shall be published immediately after the adjournment of the Board, under the authority of the Common Council, in all the newspapers em¬ ployed by the Corporation ; and whenever a vote is taken in relation thereto , the ayes and noes shall be called and published in the same manner .”
Although some of the legal tribunals of the State have decided that the omission to take the ayes and noes upon the passage of such reports and resolutions, and ordinances, does not make them void, while others have maintained a con¬ trary doctrine, still the directions contained in the section of the Charter referred to, are obligatory upon the Common Council, and under no circumstances should they be disre¬ garded.
These provisions were intended to protect the interests of the citizens, by ensuring deliberation and integrity in their representatives, upon subjects involving either taxation, as¬ sessment, or an appropriation of public moneys. The authors
47
[Doc. No. 9.
of the section referred to, wisely determined that the most effectual method to ensure deliberation and honest action on the part of the agent, was to compel him to record and pub¬ lish his vote ; thereby giving to the constituent knowledge of the agent’s acts, and exposing each agent to the animad¬ version of his constituents, when he voted incorrectly.
These provisions of the Charter, if strictly enforced, can¬ not but prove beneficial to the citizen. It cannot be denied, that there are individuals who may be elevated to office, so singularly constituted, as to be influenced in their conduct more by the fear of public censure than by an internal con¬ viction of right, who will vote improperly, and even cor¬ ruptly, if they can do so without detection and exposure.
To protect the public against the acts of such persons, and to inform the constituents of such acts of the representative, the seventh section of the amended Charter was framed. I conceive it to be the duty of all of us, strictly to enforce ob¬ servance of every requirement of the City Charter, that uni¬ formly correct precedents may be established ; and we may avoid all measures which we have not a clear right to effec¬ tuate. That community is most scrupulous in its obedience to the laws, whose officers and legislators are strict in their observance of constitutional and legal requirements. Exam¬ ple from those in authority is more important than their adjudications or their precepts. We therefore should not only enforce, but obey the law. The City Charter is a Con¬ stitution, which we as agents of the people, are bound to obey strictly, not only in its letter, but its spirit.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
DOCUMENT No. 10.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
Ansiver of the Comptroller , to a Resolution adopted by the Board of Aldermen , in relation to the Public Pro¬ perty Leased by him. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed for the use of the Members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, ) New York, June 14, 1841. \
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen:
In answer to the resolution offered by the Alderman of the First ward, asking for a statement of the leases of Corpo¬ ration property made by the Comptroller, or under his direc¬ tion, the undersigned respectfully presents the annexed statement. In connexion with it he gives the rental of the same property at the lettings immediately preceding his ad¬ ministration of the office of Comptroller. The leases are all for the year, from May 1st, 1841, to May 1st, 1842.
It will be noticed that the rental of the year 1839 on this
Doc. No. 10.]
50
property amounted to $60,343, and that the amount for the current year exceeds that sum by $14,317, or 24 per cent, increase.
This exhibits also a rental of $3,530 on property acquired since 1839. In cases where improvements of a fixed cha¬ racter have been placed upon the premises by the tenants, of a value equal to the rent, no surety is required, as is the case also where the property is re-let to an old tenant.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH, Comptroller.
Statement
Of the Public Property leased by the Comptroller,
FOE THE YEAR 1841.
Property.
Wharf Dist.
1
“/ 2
“ 3
Duane Street Piers, S.S. 4
Lessees.
John Drinan .
Thomas H. Allaire .
M. Sandford .
J. B. Nicholson _
Crook and Fowkes.
5
S.S. Pier, CastleGarden
W. C. Taylor J. Rabineau . .
Part of Peck Slip.
7 Jonathan Nash .
8 Jonathan Nash .
Cornelius Y anderbilt
Sureties.
Florence Riley ....
' John McCoy .
'i. A. Cunningham. .
'John Green .
Enoch Chamberlain
John Henry .
Barker, Kertland& ?
Cox . 3
Charles F. Pack . . . Henry Suydam, jun. Cyrus Heldecock . . Uriah B. Scribner. . George Paulding. . . John JVJ. Bloodgood James K . Whiting . . James R. Whiting . James R. Whiting .
11
12
East side of Fulton st.Pier W arrenstreet Pier.
Chambers st Pier.
Part of En¬ gine House in Beaver street. Do. in Roose¬ velt Street. Do. in Mercer , street. LotinForsyth Street. 421 Do. do. 422 Fort at Hu¬ bert Street. Lots 1, 9 and 10 Chat. St. Lot
Tryon Row.
Wm. C. Taylor.... Ellis and Y\ heat. . . Robert Pettigrew . . Elijah Peck and ) James P. Allaire. _< Samuel Johnson . . Jamse B. Nicholson Maria E. Betts . . Charles G. Ferris I. C. Kam, jun.. .
Robert S. Place . .
James Paul .
Alfred Barmore.. Heir of Mrs.Halstead Harlaem R. R, Co
Hichcock & Subner Hichcock & Subner Hichcock & Subner Hichcock & Subner Thos. Powell & Co. Alex. P. Fonda. . . .
Walter Anderson.. .
G. D. Hasbrouck. . .
|
Bert, 1841 |
Rent , 1839 |
|
42; |
> $ 250 |
|
| 10,55( |
) 8,350 |
|
l 5,701 |
) ) |
|
> 1,10C |
> 6250 » s |
|
^ 7,20C |
5,350 |
|
| 5,400 360 |
^ 5800 |
|
£ 8,850 |
8,800 |
|
6,550 |
4,925 |
|
4,800 |
\ 5800 |
|
2,500 7,025 |
5 5,000 |
|
40 |
80 |
|
140 |
195 |
|
1,800 2,150 |
2,000 |
|
2150 |
2,000 |
|
200 |
150 |
|
20 |
20 |
|
100 100 |
75 |
|
100 |
75 |
|
2,000 |
1,625 |
|
2,000 500 |
1 2000 |
|
$ 71,760 |
58,745 |
Carried forward ....
Doc. No. 10.]
52
Property.
Rent, Rent , 1841
Chatham St No. 3. No. 6. Gore in Cen¬ tre, near Try on Gore next ti the above. Lot in Elm Street.
Com. Lands, Nos. 25 &
No. 195. Lot at Pike Slip.
Brought forward .
Lewis Page .
Roger Pegg .
Hu<jh and Michael >
Kerrigan . >
;oJohn Thomas and > Wm. B. Marsh. . $ Margaret Hamilton.
William Love .
George Armstrong . William Robinson .
$71,760
550
500
600
200
180
58,745
400
100
180
170
50
000
$74,660 $60,345
The Property mentioned below has been but lately acquired by the Corporation , and principally by the foreclosures of its Fire Loan Bonds and Mortgages.
Bond Street, No. 37. Bond Street, No. 39. Bond Street, No. 41. First floor in store c. Liber¬ ty & Green st. Part of second story.
121st St. and 3d Avenue. 122d St. and 3d Avenue.
Mary Southerland. .
M. Picabia .
VI. Ludlow _ ....
James H .Stevens. . W. D. Waterman. . Christian Schroeder Thos. Jackson. ....
George C. Allen . . . Charles Delmonico.
S. V. Huching .
John Corning .
$ 880 900 950 400 200 150 50
$3,530
DOCUMENT No. 11.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs , in accordance with an Ordinance to provide for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accor¬ dance with the ordinance providing for the accountability of Committees, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting of the Committee, held June 10, 1841, a majority being present, the requisition of the Superinten¬ dent of Repairs upon the Comptroller, for the payment of sundry bills, amounting to $2273 82 was directed to be paid.
Doc, No. 11.]
54
$ 753 73 of which was expended for the Fire Department, 1,520 09 “ “ for Repairs and Supplies,
viz:
Workmen’s wages— Fire Department . $314 95
Painting and materials, do. do . 438 78
$753 73
Workmen’s wages— Building Department . $545 01
Coal do. do . 458 12
Materials of various kinds . 516 96
$1,520 09
Respectfully submitted.
FREDERICK R. LEE,
C. BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 12.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 14, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in accordance with an ordinance to provide for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in accordance with the ordinance providing for the accountability of Execu¬ tive Committees, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting of the Committee, held June 10, 1841, all being present, the Aqueduct Commissioner presented his requisition on the Comptroller for $19,452 44, which is for the payment of workmen’s wages and materials, as follows :
Doc. No. 12.]
56
Workmen’s wages and carting . $1407 29
Digging and paving . 2764 00
Carpenters’ work and lumber . . 269 48
Stopcocks and hydrants . 1847 58
Yarn . 205 19
Pine wood . . . 58 13
Plugs . 35 37
Handles . 11 50
Pipes . 12,845 97
Office expenses . 7 93
$19,452 44
Also, a requisition in favor of Ellicot and Brothers, for bill of pipes, payable in 5 per Cent. City Bonds at par . $4848 43
And at a meeting of the Committee held on the 12th inst. a requisition in favor of Ellicot & Brothers for $2,652 69, payable in 5 per Cent. City Bonds at par, was also passed.
MOSES G. LEONARD,
R. S. WILLIAMS,
F. R. LEE,
HENRY BREVOORT.
DOCUMENT No. 13.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 21, 1841.
Communication of the Comptroller, in reference to the crea¬ tion of a further amount of Water Stock , with an Or¬ dinance.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Cleric.
Comptroller’s Office, j New York, June 14, 1841. \
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
Gentlemen — The Legislature of the State, at its last ses¬ sion, passed a law empowering the Corporation of this City to issue a further amount of stock for the completion of the Cro¬ ton Aqueduct. This law authorizes the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York to raise a further sum, not exceeding three millions five hundred thousand dollars, for the completion of the Croton Aqueduct, by the creation of a stock to be called ‘f The Water Stock of the
Doc. No. 13.]
58
City of New York,” which shall bear an interest not ex¬ ceeding six per cent, per annum, and be redeemable at a pe¬ riod not exceeding forty years. The action of the Common Council is, of course, necessary to render this law available for the purposes for which it is intended.
The provisions of this law also authorize the Corporation, in their discretion, to issue temporary obligations, for short periods, bearing an interest not exceeding seven per cent, per annum, and in anticipation of the proceeds to arise from the negociation of the permanent stock authorized by it. A similar provision has been inserted in the laws, passed by the Legislature, authorizing the raising of the means necessary for the further construction of the public works of the State. The condition of the money market, it was conceived, ren¬ dered such a provision imperatively necessary.
Until the revulsion, which occurred a few years since, in the financial world, and under which the money market has been embarrassed for some time past, a five per cent, time stock could be negotiated at a premium. The first issue of stock, for the construction of the Croton Aqueduct, bore but five per cent, per annum interest, and yet a million of dollars of that stock was disposed of at a premium of eleven ninety-three hundredths per cent., being within a small fraction of twelve per cent, upon the par value of the stock. It is reasonable to suppose that such again will be the condition of financial matters ; or, at least, that they will not always remain in their present embarrassed state. Within the past year an evident improvement has taken place in the money market ; it has not been sufficient, however, to affect the price of time stocks, though they can now be more readily disposed of at former prices. Money on short loans is abundant, and if trade and commerce are permitted to follow their natural channels, with no undue attempt to force the improvement in the money market, (in which case it will be but unhealthy and temporary,) there can be no question that such improve¬ ment will be gradually progressive, and that the period will
59
[Doc. No. 13.
shortly arrive when money can be obtained at as low a rate of interest as it ever has been before. With such expectations the State have considered it expedient to allow the issue of tem¬ porary obligations, at the present high rate of interest, rather than require the liability to the loss that would necessarily result from the negociation of a long stock at those rates of interest, when there is a reasonable prospect that the time is not far distant when such stocks can be negociated ' upon much more advantageous terms than they now can.
Of the $8, 500, 000 heretofore authorized by the Legisla¬ ture to be raised, for the construction of the Croton Aque¬ duct, there has been stock issued to the amount of $8,480,013, leaving the sum of $19,987 still undisposed of. The avails of the stock sold amount to the sum of $7,832,814 04.
Of the stock disposed of, $1,000,000 were issued in 1835; $350,000 in 1837; $1,865,030 in 1838 ; $2,208,700 in 1839; $2,379,539 ih 1840, and $676,744 to June 12, 1841, which makes the above mentioned sum of $8,480,013.
The receipts from the stock issued were $1,119,300 in 1835; $350,000 in 1837; $384,530 in 1838; $1,895,024 15 in 1839; $2,105,996 98 in 1840, and $588,112 83 to June 12, 1841, making together the sum of $6,442,963 96. There was also received from the Bank of the State of New York, in 1838, on account of the issue of that year, the sum of $1,072,023 04; $15,375 in 1839; and $401,329 81 in 1840. From this, however, is to be deducted $98,877 77, which amount was returned to the Bank of the State of New York in 1839. This leaves the sum received from the Bank of the State of New York at $1,389,850 08, which, with the amount before stated, say $6,442,963 96, shows the aggre¬ gate amount of receipts to be $7,832,814 04, as before men¬ tioned.
A part of the money received from the sale of stock, in 1835, was temporarily placed at interest by the Corporation. There was received by this means the sum of $27,489 44
Doc. No. 13.]
60
in 1836; $5,250 in 1837, and $5,397 04 in 1838; making together the sum of $38,136 48.
There was received from the sales of old water pipes $349 27 in 1837 ; and to the 12th June, 1841, $318 31, amounting together to $667 58. For the rent of land, &c., there has been received the sum of $3,256 72 ; of which amount $435 were received in 1837; $988 60 in 1839, and $1,833 12 in 1840. There was also received, in 1839, the sum of $224 74, to antedate stock, being the accumulated interest.
The foregoing amounts constitute all the receipts, from every quarter, of which there is any record on the books in this office, on account of the Croton Aqueduct, and together constitute the sum total of $7,875,099 56.
The disbursements on account of the Croton Aqueduct are as follows : There has been charged to the Water Com¬ missioners direct, the sum of $6,385,214 50, of which amount the sum of $6,595 11 was charged previous to 1835; $35,130 26 in 1835; $42,773 36 in 1836; $297,678 56 in 1837; 1,589,879 47 in 1838; $1,961,264 96 in 1839; $1,869,083 78 in 1840, and $582,808 50 to June 12, 1841. These sums have been paid on the requisitions of the Water Commissioners, and amount, as stated above, to the sum of $6,385,214 50.
The cost of water pipes, and the expenses for laying them down, have amounted to $771,113 28. Of this sum $160,740 21 were charged previous to 1835; $53,146 28 in 1835; $25,100 74 in 1836; $45,202 87 in 1837; $24,661 61 in 1838; $68,474 44 in 1839; $249,176 64 in 1840, and $144,610 49 to June 12, 1841.
.The interest paid on the Water Stock issued amounts to $937,163 93. There was paid of this amount the sum of $13,472 21 in 1835; $50,000 in 1836; $53,041 in 1837; $111,110 18 in 1838; 206,637 27 in 1839; 306,644, in 1840, and $196,259 27 to June 12, 1841. There has also been
61 [Doc. No. 13.
paid, for premiums on specie to pay interest, the sum of $2,831 18. Of this amount $2,088 37 were paid in 1837, and $742 81 in 1838.
The contingent expenses on account of the aqueduct amount to $3,646 39, of which sum $2,945 44 were paid in 1835 ; $96 in 1836 ; $89 95 in 1837 ; $164 in 1838; and $351 in 1840 ; there has also been expended for the pre¬ servation of the Croton Aqueduct, and for quelling riots among the workmen thereon, the force being ordered out by the Mayor, at the request of the Water Commissioners, the sum of $2,674 56, which was paid out in 1840.
These items of expenditure form the aggregate amount of $8,102,643 84, and constitute the sum total of the cost of the aqueduct to this date, so far as the charges appear upon the books at this office.
The foregoing statement presents a condensed view of all the accounts in this office, in relation to the Croton Aque¬ duct. It will thus be seen, that of the $8,500,000 of stock authorized to be created, there has been issued $8,480,013, and that there remains unissued the sum of $19,987; that the receipts on all accounts amount to $7,875,099 56, and the disbursements to $8,102,643 84. The advance, from the general funds of the City Treasury, consequently, amount to the sum of $227,544 28.
The late period to which the passage of the Water Stock bill was deferred by the State Legislature, renders the early adoption of an ordinance in relation to it of the most urgent necessity. The treasury advance, as before stated, amounts to the sum of $227,544 28. The Contractors on the line of the aqueduct are progressing with all the rapidity in their power, and the amounts to be paid them must necessarily *be large, being measured by the quantity of work they perform.
A very considerable amount will be required to meet the contracts for mains, &c. illegally made by the Water Com¬ missioners, but which, by the provisions of the Water Stock
Doc. No. 13.]
62
Law, as passed by the Legislature, are to be assumed by the Corporation. This is the season most favorable for the lay¬ ing of water pipes. The interests of the community require that this portion of the work should be proceeded in with all practicable speed, that as large an income as possible may be derived from the sale of water immediately after its introduc¬ tion into the city. The Croton Aqueduct Committee will, doubtless, have as great a number of pipes laid during the present season, as is by any means possible, and if so it will need no inconsiderable sum to meet the necessary cost of pipe and the expenses for laying them down.
The items of expenditure thus enumerated will create a large demand upon the city finances, and will require that the necessary measures be speedily taken to ensure, at a rea¬ sonable rate, the amount of means necessary to meet the claims that will arise under them. It has been customary for the Common Council to pass an ordinance to complete the legal creation of the loan, and at the same time to em¬ power the Finance Committees of the two Boards to avail themselves of the most favorable period for the negociation of the stock. The agents of the Corporation are thus placed on an equal footing with the capitalists with whom they may have to negociate for loans, and in case of advantageous offers they are enabled to give an immediate and decisive an¬ swer, which is of vital importance in all large financial trans¬ actions, when the least delay, where prompt offers are made, frequently produces, in consequence of the sudden and fitful changes in the money market of this city, a failure of the ne¬ gociation. The success that has recently attended the City Stock transactions, as compared with others during the same period, induces the undersigned to suppose that the Common Council can have no cause for wishing a change in the mode they have heretofore adopted for the negociation of their stocks, nor does he think that a change would, in any respect, be desirable. He has prepared an ordinance, which is an-
63
[Doc. No. 13.
nexed, and which is in conformity with the State law, and with the ordinances recently adopted by the Common Council. It has been submitted to the consideration of the Finance Committee, who have examined the subject, and, as he sup¬ poses, are prepared to act in relation to it.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
A LAW.
In addition to the law, “ To instruct the Water Commission¬ ers to proceed in the work of supplying the City of New York with water,” and to create a public fund or stock to be called “ The Water Stock of the City of New York,” for the expenses of the said work and to com¬ plete the same.
The Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
§ 1. An additional stock or fund to be called “ The Water Stock of the City of New York,” shall be created for a loan of three millions five hundred thousand dollars, which sjiall bear an interest of not exceeding six per cent, per annum, payable quarterly, and shall be redeemable at such periods, not exceeding forty years, as may be determined by the Fi¬ nance Committees.
§ 2. The certificates of the said stock shall be issued in such amounts, not less than one hundred dollars in each cer¬ tificate, and in such manner and form as may be decided upon by the Finance Committee, to be most expedient for the interest of the city.
§ 3. It shall be lawful for the Comptroller, by and with the consent of the Finance Committees of both Boards, to issue the temporary obligations of the city, in such sums as they shall deem proper, not under two hundred and fifty dol¬ lars each, and therein expressed to be transferable only on the books of the office of the Comptroller of said city, by the holder thereof in person, or his attorney, duly authorized in writing, for short periods, bearing an interest not exceed¬ ing seven per cent, per annum, and in anticipation of the
65
[Doc. No. 13.
proceeds to arise from the negociation of the permanent stock authorized by this law ; the amount of such temporary obligation not to exceed two millions of dollars.
§ 4. That the Comptroller be authorized by and with the consent of the Finance Committees of both Boards, to meet the requisition upon the Treasury for supplying the City of New York with pure and wholesome water, to sell from time to time, and in such sums as they may deem advisable, the stock or temporary obligations of the city, authorized and created by this law, upon such terms and in such manner as they may deem most expedient, and that he report the amount of such sales with the price obtained therefor, quar¬ terly, to the Common Council.
§ 5. The moneys to be raised by virtue of this law, shall be applied and expended to and for the purpose of supplying the city with pure and wholesome water, according to the provisions of the law hereby amended, and no part of the fund created by this law, or any other fund raised for the purpose of constructing or completing the Croton Aqueduct, and the works connected therewith, and distributing the water throughout the city, shall be diverted from such object.
§ 6. The provisions of the ninth section of the law to which this is an addition, is applicable in all respects to this law.
§ 7. It shall be the duty of the Comptroller to estimate and report to the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of New York, at their annual meeting, the amount necessary to be raised by tax, on the estates real and personal of the freeholders and inhabitants of and situated within the said city, and to be collected, to defray the deficiency of interest upon the Water Stock of the City of New York, such money to be assessed and collected in the same manner as now pro¬ vided by law for the assessment and collection of taxes in the said city.
:.-i -
_
w.
'
DOCUMENT No. 14.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 28, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Charity and the Alms House, in regard to the better regulation of the Ferry to Black¬ well’s Island. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Charity and the Alms House, to whom was referred a report from a majority of the former Commit¬ tee, together with the report and resolutions from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, on the communication from the Com¬ missioners of the Alms House, recommending the purchase of property at the ferry to Blackwell’s Island, and the grad¬ ing of Sixty-first street, respectfully
REPORT :
That they have investigated the subject referred to them with great care, and divested from all personal feeling ; that
Doc. No. 14.]
they are convinced of the existence of all the evils set forth by the Commissioners of the Alms House, and of the pro¬ priety and necessity of adopting the measures recommended by them, and that they think it the duty of the Common Council to support them in all their laudable exertions to improve the discipline and moral condition of the prisoners) and also to provide the necessary comforts for the sick who are so unfortunate as to be thrown upon the public charity for support.
The report from the Board of Assistant Aldermen was founded on the unanimous recommendation of the Commis¬ sioners of the Alms House : it was drawn up after deliberate inquiry and reflection, and was adopted by the unanimous vote of that Board.
Your Committee also report for the further informa¬ tion of this Board, that the property proposed to be given to Mr. Towle, in exchange, is not the property of his choice, but such as has been thought most advisable to be disposed of by the city. A part, Only, of the store, (we understand that this property has since been rented for four hundred dollars,) at the corner of Green and Liberty streets belongs to the Corporation. It is not now in a rentable condition, nor can it be applied to any public use, and, in order to make it available to the city, it will be necessary for the Common Council to dispose of the public interest therein, or to build up a partition wall, and to let it out in separate rooms to oc¬ cupants ; and your Committee do not believe it is the policy, or for the interest of the Corporation to become landlords, when it can be avoided, or to hold property which is not for the public use.
The water lot quit rents have, heretofore, been attended with small pecuniary advantage to the city, arising from the difficulty and expense incidental to their collection.
And your Committee beg leave further to report, that the objections made by the majority of the former Committee against the disposal of the said store and water lot quit rents,
69
[Doc. No. 14.
are without foundation, and that the faith of the Corporation may be preserved inviolate, notwithstanding that the ex¬ change in question receive the sanction and approval of this Board. The “ Fire Loan Stock” bears an interest of five per cent, whilst the bonds and mortgages received therefor are drawing an interest of seven per cent, and there is already a surplus of interest added to this fund much larger than to cover the said property, and this surplus is constantly accu¬ mulating, and only a part of the water lot quit rents are ap¬ propriated to the Sinking Fund. Your Committee, there¬ fore, say that the property of the Corporation so offered, forms but a redundant part of the security of the Sinking Fund and Fire Loan Stock, and that the security which will remain, after the completion of the contemplated exchange, is ample and sufficient to meet all the contingencies that may arise. Besides, your Committee will add, that the property to be received by the contemplated exchange, is a property that will be constantly increasing in value, and may be sub¬ stituted by the Corporation, if it should, at any time, be deemed necessary, as a security in lieu of the property to be given ; which, whilst it will furnish an equal, if not a better security, will, at the same time, procure for the city, property of a more available public use and advantage.
Your Committee further report, that whilst they believe in the acquiescence of the majority of the former Committee, that some additional accommodations at this ferry are much needed, they cannot for a moment listen to the suggestions therein contained, that the Corporation have it in their power to make such as would be sufficient , at the foot of the street and in the avenue , without interfering with the rights of any one !
The appropriating of the lands of private individuals to public purposes, has been justified by the necessity of the case, in order to open streets and avenues within the limits of the city; but for no other public purpose can such appro¬ priation be lawf ully made.
Doc. No. 14.]
70
A right of way through these streets and avenues is the only privilege belonging to, or ever claimed, heretofore , by the public, excepting that the Commissioners, in 1836, feel¬ ing the necessity of having a House of Detention and stable at the foot of this street, for the purposes now sought, claimed the right, and did commence the foundation of a building in Sixty-first street, near the river; but upon the remonstrance of the inhabitants against a measure so illegal and invasive of the just rights of private citizens, the project was aban¬ doned.
Such a measure, carried into effect by this body, would be universally condemned by the voice of the people, as taking from the citizen his property for one avowed purpose, and unlawfully applying it to another, and thus depriving the public of a free and unincumbered right of way, and the owners of the land upon the street and avenue, of their pri¬ vilege of rendering their property, so situated, productive and available.
Your Committee therefore, with this view of the subject, cannot assent to an act so illegal and manifestly unjust ; nor do your Committee believe that such an act could be jus¬ tified by any motives of economy to the city. The legality and equity of any measure to be taken on the part of this body must ever first be consulted.
In regard to the suggestions contained in the report made by the majority of the former Committee, “ that if a proper system of discipline over the. subordinate officers attached to the Alms House Department, or an efficient police was main¬ tained on Blackwell’s Island, most of the evils complained of by the Commissioners would be remedied ; and by mak¬ ing suitable arrangements of the manner and time of trans¬ porting patients or prisoners to the island, the causes of com¬ plaint as to their exposure might be easily obviated,” your Committee do not deem it necessary to allude to them other¬ wise than to remark, that these are amongst the evils com¬ plained of by the Commissioners, and to correct which they are now soliciting the aid and co-operation of the Common
71
[Doc. No. 14.
Council ; but that the majority of the former Committee have not recommended any practical means of correcting the same, except that in another part of their report, they agree in the propriety of obtaining possession of a small piece or par¬ cel of land at the ferry, for the purposes herein recommended, if to be procured on proper terms.
This acquiescence, however, contradicts, and is at variance with the suggestions to which your Committee have al¬ luded ; and furnishes, in itself, an anwer to the suggestions so made.
It seems, then, to be generally conceded, that the Corpora¬ tion should become the owners of sufficient property at the ferry in question, to answer the public wants ; and your Com¬ mittee believe that the quantity herein recommended, to be obtained by exchange, is no more than is required for pub¬ lic purposes ; and it forms only a part of what is recom¬ mended by the Commissioners of the Alms House.
Your Committee, in conclusion, will remark, that they feel convinced of the propriety and necessity of carrying the proposed exchange into effect, which is now offered on fa¬ vorable terms ; and that they have guarded the city against any extortion, by providing that the appraisers to be ap¬ pointed shall be sworn faithfully to perform the duties and trust confided to them. And whilst it seems to be the true policy of the city to concentrate the principal public institu¬ tions on Blackwell’s Island, the Corporation should lose no time in securing the complete control of a point of access so important as the one in question. And your Committee express it as their belief and opinion, that if the present op¬ portunity be lost, the Corporation may feel itself constrained to purchase it at a future time, upon terms much less favora¬ ble and advantageous to the public.
Your Committee therefore recommend a concurrence in the above mentioned report and resolutions, as adopted by the Board of Assistant Aldermen.
SAMUEL BRADHURST, DAYID VANDERVOORT.
DOCUMENT No. 15.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JUNE 28, 1841.
Report of the Superintendent of the Alms House, which was ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
ANNUAL REPORT,
Of the Superintendent of the Alms House of the City of New York, showing the number of paupers who have been ad¬ mitted into the Alms House, from the first day of May, 1840, (including those at the time in the house) to the first day of May, 1841 ; the number discharged from, and who died in the house, during the same period ; and likewise, the number of paupers now in the house, designating their sexes ; the number of prisoners and vagrants in the Bride¬ well and Penitentiary; and the number of patients and lunatics in the Alms House Hospital and Lunatic Asylum ; with an account of donations distributed to “ out door poor” by the Commissioners during the time aforesaid.
Doc. No. 15.]
74
Paupers in, and admitted into, the Alms House, from the 1st
of May, 1840, to the 1st of May, 1S41 . 6049
Paupers discharged during the same period _ 2785
Paupers eloped during the same period ........ 84
Paupers died during the same period . 599
Total discharged, eloped, and died . 3468
Total remaining in Alms House.. . 2581
Number, including 236 hospital patients, 297 lunatics, and 134 children at nurse, on the 1st day of May, 1841, to wit, men 879, women 807, boys 634, girls 261.
Places of Nativity of the Total Number remaining and received during the year , viz. :
|
I City of 1 New iork. |
I ' State of 1 New York. |
| United States. | |
| England. J |
| Ireland. |
1 Scotland. _ |
5 1 |
| France. |
I Sweden. |
Spain. |
West Indies. \ |
Prussia. |
Italy. |
South America. | |
Africa. _ |
Poland. j |
Switzerland. 1 |
Denmark . |
Wales. |
Portugal. |
Unknown. |
|
2255 156 |
536 |
545 |
1844149 |
33c |
37 |
121 415 |
5 |
7 |
2 |
6 |
6 |
17 |
3 |
35 |
7 |
38 |
Number of prisoners and vagrants in the City Prison or
Bridewell 1st May, 1841 . 156
Number of prisoners and vagrants in the Penitentiary
1st May, 1841 . 791
Cash — donations to out-door poor during the last =====
12 months . $8,482 46
Wood distributed to out door poor during the last
12 months, including carting, &c. 4186 loads . . 7,819 21 Coal distributed to out-door poor during the last
12 months, including carting, &c. 359 tons _ 1,938 60
Potatoes distributed to out-door poor during the last 12 months, including carting, &c. 8514 bushels . 3,293 04
$21,533 31
JOHN MYER, Superintendent.
75
[Doc. No. 15.
The Superintendent of the Alms House respectfully com¬ municates to the Common Council (in addition to his “ an¬ nual report”) that the following named articles have been raised and manufactured by the paupers for the? Alms House during the past year, from May 1st, 1840, to May 1st, 1841 :
FACTORY.
Work done.
25,411 yards shirtings 6,863 “ chambray
1,848 “ sheeting
4,800 “• gray satinet
4,262 “ striped satinet
334 “ rag carpet
983 lbs. stocking yarn
Men employed.
15 weavers 2 spinners 8 wheel turners 2 boys at carding machine 1 man at carding machine 1 Superintendent, salary $400 per annum
Shoe Shop.
798 pair men’s shoes 1,072 “ women’s shoes 106 “ children’s shoes 1,527 “ repaired
Tailor’s Shop.
397 men’s jackets 1,003 pair men’s trowsers 6 men’s coats 935 boy’s jackets 623 pair boy’s pants 850 suits repaired
Doc. No. 15.]
76
Tin Ware.
2,128 tin pans, 1,098 cups, 23 watering pots, spittoons, scoops and pails
54 dippers, 95 wash basins, 73 lamp and dust pans
48 tin cans, coffee pots, lanterns, lamp fillers
10 wash kettles, iron boilers, 17 ladles, 18 close stool pans
44 saucepans, candlestick, coal sifters
30 large tin pans and skimmers
Bake House.
11 men and 2 laborers, who have baked, on an average,
18 barrels of flour per day
Produce raised on Long Island in 1840.
peas . 250 bushels
Beans . 200 “
Spinage . . . 200 “
Radishes (early) . 100 “
Radishes (late) . 200 “
Beets . ... ... . . . 150 “
Parsnips . . . 150 “
Carrots.. .. .. . 100 “
Onions . . 100 “
Hay (fresh) . 45 tons
Hay (salt) . 20 “
Cabbage (early) . . 2,000 heads
Cabbage (late) . . . 10,000 “
Turnips . 2,500 bushels
Turnips, Ruta Baga . 125 “
Potatoes . 3,400 “
Corn (unshelled) . 600 “
Milk, per day . 50 quarts
Pork raised . 4,000 lbs.
Brooms (the corn manufactured) ..... 150 dozen
Baskets . 30
77 [Doc. No. 15.
Number of persons employed at Long Island Farms.
Men . 6 farming
Women . 3 doing necessary labor about house
Boys . 5 farming
Produce raised at Bellevue.
375 bushels turnips 675 “ potatoes
12 tons hay 1,350 heads cabbage 20 bushels carrots
50 “ beets
30 “ parsnips
233 brooms
Clothing manufactured at L. I. Nurseries. 261 shirts 696 pair pantalets 889 chemises 661 aprons 115 bonnets 681 frocks
500 eye towels, or handkerchiefs ■50 table cloths 150 pair stockings 50 towels 206 night gowns 36 curtains 100 spreads 261 petticoats
Assistant Matron's Department , Bellevue. 3,139 men’s shirts 2,617 boys’ “
2,713 women’s chemises 1,234 girls’ «
Doc. No. 15.]
78
1,155 women’s frocks 547 girls’ “
1,090 women’s petticoats 470 girls’ v “
963 short gowns 2,993 sheets 2,731 pillow cases 2,848 bed ticks 2,059 pillow ticks 1,784 shrouds
828 bed spreads \
1,174 pair of stockings 1,183 aprons
1,042 infant shirts and slips 703 bonnets 1,054 caps 1,034 handkerchiefs 1,208 infant petticoats 374 diaper towels
Carpenter's Shop.
1,825 coffins 150 bedsteads 200 small benches 130 wash boards 75 cots
1 large wardrobe for middle house 1 book case for office 320 feet cornice gutters 500 feet light fence for hospital
1 cook house for Penitentiary, and wood house.
2 cook houses, 2 bathing houses, and 2 sand boxes for
hospital
2 privies, 18 feet by 7
125 feet plank gutter for drain under ground in hospital, dead house roof raised and 5 windows added, and sundry jobs about the building continually.
79
[Doc. No. 15.
Wheelwrights Work.
1 set coach wheels
1 box cart, new, except the wheels 15 wheelbarrows
Blacksmith’s jobbing
Men employed as Gardeners , <§*c. at Bellevue.
15 men gardeners and farmers.
2 “ hog feeders
2 “ stables
3 “ cartraen
2 “ ox drivers
, 4 “ at general work
6 “ wood yard
4 u at cook house
3 “ eating kitchen
Men employed in Alms House , Bellevue.
Orderlies and assistants . . 42
Gate keepers . . . . . . 3
Tailors . g
Shoemakers . 20
Coopers . . 2
Boatmen . 22
Rope walks and flax dressing . . . 3
Masons . 2
Scrub house . 2
Soap house . . . g
Wash house . g
Middle house kitchen . 4
Store . 2
Whitewashers . 4
Lamplighters . 2
Schoolmaster . ^
Scavengers . . g
Runners and newsmen . 2
Barbers . .
Doc. No. 15.]
80
Men and Women employed in Hospital. 4 men in kitchen 4 « sweeping yards
4 “ hog pen
2 women, nurses 12 men, orderlies or nurses
1 clerk
2 assistant apothecaries 2 men, levelling ground
Average number of Lunatics , Patients employed variously at the Asylum , Blackwell's Island.
MALES.
Gardening .
Force pumps . .
Halls .
Boats . .
Kitchen, errands, &c. • • * Total . . * .
FEMALES.
Sewing .
Halls .
Kitchens .
Total .
Grand total . .
6
16
3
4 9
25
13
4
The above are employed from 2 to 8 hours per day.
JOHN MYER, Superintendent.
RETURN
ENGINES, HOOK I LADDER, HONE,
AND HYDRANT COMPANIES;
Their Apparatus, Places of Deposite, Condition, Sfc. together with the names of the Engineers and Foremen.
HNSSSESIES8 SJAS2S8.
HOSE COMPANIES.
HOOK AND LADDER COMPANIES.
DOCUMENT No. 16.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 7, 1841.
Annual Report of the Chief Engineer. Ordered printed and referred to the Committee on Fire and Water.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York :
The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department respectfully
REPORTS:
That in connection with the gentlemen composing the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, he has visited the va¬ rious places of deposite for the fire apparatus, and has exa¬ mined into the condition of the same : he herewith submits the result of the examination, together with his annual return of the names, occupation, and residence of each member of the department. By a reference to the report it will be seen that there are, (including two at the New Alms House,) thirty-six engines in good order, and twelve in indifferent order ; twenty- seven hose carriages in good order, and six in indifferent order ;
Doc. No. 16.]
82
with twenty-five thousand five hundred and fifty feet of hose ; seven hook and ladder trucks, with forty-seven ladders and fifty-three hooks. Thirty-two thousand eight hundred feet of hose in good order, and sixteen thousand six hundred and fifty feet of hose in ordinary, making in the whole, forty-nine thousand four hundred and fifty feet. There are at present in the department forty-eight engine companies, thirty-four hose companies, seven hook and ladder companies, and three hydrant companies, and all, except one, (Hose Company No. 25) have apparatus and locations. The present number of men in the department is one thousand six hundred and thirty-nine.
In presenting to your Honorable Body his annual report of the state of the Fire Department, the Chief Engineer deems it his duty to offer for your consideration some sug¬ gestions, which, if adopted by you, would, in his opinion, tend materially to improve the condition of that institution, which of all others from its size, utility and importance to our city, demands your fostering care. The first step to¬ wards promoting the welfare of the department, is the main¬ tenance of a strict subordination and discipline among its members, a rigid adherence to the laws, and a determination on the part of the Common Council to punish those who violate them. The laws already enacted, with perhaps one or two slight amendments, are sufficient : it only remains to have them properly enforced.
The very prompt, decisive and energetic manner with which the present Fire and Water Committee have entered upon the discharge of their duties, gives an earnest of their intention (so far as it lies in their power to do so) to reform all abuses in the department. The Chief would simply ask that, in this, the Committee may receive the unanimous and cordial support of your Honorable Body.
He would recommend an amendment to the laws, by which the officer in charge of any fire company, while on duty, should be held responsible for the conduct of his men,
83 [Doc. No. 16.
and in case of any riot or disorder, that he shall be required to point out the offenders.
He would also suggest the propriety of amending the law to prevent persons, other than Firemen, from entering the places of deposite for the fire apparatus. The practice of boys frequenting the engine houses, is becoming an evil of great magnitude, which can only be remedied by some salutary law on the subject, as it cannot be expected of the Firemen, that they should keep a constant watch over them.
Another subject which demands your attention is that of equalizing the duty of the Firemen. About eighteen months since, the Committee on Fire and Water requested that all the Fire Companies located in the Fifth district, should perform duty in that district only, and not to leave it unprotected. The propriety of this request the Chief does not at all ques¬ tion; so far from it, he deems it absolutely necessary: but it unfortunately bears hard on the Firemen attached to compa¬ nies in the other sections of the city ; and many of them do not hesitate to complain loudly that they are compelled to do duty at all times, and in every portion of the city, while others are confined to a small section, and perform but one- fifth of the labor. The justice of these complaints cannot be denied, and it would perhaps therefore be proper to divide the city into three districts, and the duty in each district to be performed by the companies located therein. The pre¬ sent supply of water, the numerous hydrants, and the strength of the department, would seem to justify such a course at the present time.
The want of a sufficient Police at fires to protect pro¬ perty, and to keep off the crowd of spectators, who only em¬ barrass the operations of the Firemen, is severely felt. This duty properly belongs to the Marshals, but they seldom or ever attend to it. They urge, in justification of their neg¬ lect, that they are not paid for their services. It is suggested whether, by paying them a certain salary, money would not, in the end, be saved by it to the citizens. A number of the
Doc. No. 16.]
84
fire companies having been disbanded, it would seem proper that the remaining ones should be arranged in regular rota¬ tion, and that their numbers should be altered, so that they should follow one another in regular succession.
The Chief Engineer has thrown out the foregoing sug¬ gestions in the hope that they would meet your serious con¬ sideration and prompt action ; and in closing his report he feels it a duty, as well as a pleasure, to bear testimony to the general promptness and alacrity of the Firemen in the dis¬ charge of their duties. That there are exceptions to this remark he does not deny; but it is not to be expected, that in a body of men so numerous as the Firemen, all will be equally good ; and it is to be regretted, that too often our citizens, in their censures on the Firemen, blend the inno¬ cent with the guilty, and attribute to all, the disorderly acts of a few. That the efforts and labors of the Firemen have been efficient, and crowned with success, is evident from the fact, that although during the past twelve months fires have been as frequent in our city as ever before, still there have been but two which involved the destruction of any great amount of property; and in, the instances referred to, such was the rapidity with which the fire spread, and the headway which it had obtained before being discovered, that it was a subject of astonishment to all that they were sub¬ dued without much greater loss. In view of these facts, our Fire Department .may justly challenge comparison with that of any other in this country. It ranks amongst its members many of our most respectable citizens, and for the preserva¬ tion of its harmony and usefulness they ask for the support and aid of the Common Council. The undersigned in¬ dulges the hope that it will be cheerfully granted them.
Respectfully submitted.
CORNELIUS V. ANDERSON, Chief Engineer.
July 7, 1841.
SEMI-ANNUAL
SBSIPQmi?
|
WATER |
OP THE COMMISSIONERS, |
|
JUI/V 18, 1841. |
DOCUMENT NO. 17.
<& a©©©'©#
PRINTERS.
DOCUMENT No. 17.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 12, 1841.
The Water Commissioners presented their Semi-Annual Report in relation to the Croton Aqueduct , which was laid on the table and directed to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
New York, Water Commissioners' Office, \ July, 12, 1841. ’ \
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York :
In conformity to the Act of the Legislature of the State, establishing the Board of Water Commissioners, we respect¬ fully make this our Semi-Annual
REPORT .
Having lately made to the Board of Aldermen, on their application, a special report in relation to the officers and per-
Doc. No. 17.]
sons employed both in the Engineer and other Departments of the Croton Aqueduct, it is not deemed necessary to repeat that information.
With the exception of the dam over the Croton River, which was carried away the last winter, the work has stood, both the frost of the winter and the unusual fall and floods Of rain, beyond our expeptation ; and taking the extent of the work, and the great weight of the walls, embankments, and mason work of the superstructure, passing as it does, over almost every variety of material for foundation, it has settled much less than could have been anticipated. It has in fact settled in few places, and in but one (Bathgate’s meadow in Westchester County) to any material extent.
We have, nevertheless, been obliged to expend for repairs throughout the whole line, since the last fall and spring, the sum of $7,625 17 : about two-thirds of this amount has been for repairs to embankments, opening drains, and similar work, incidental to new structures of earth ; the balance for repairs of the character described by the Chief Engineer in his report. They were mainly on sections 15, 16 and 17 of the first division, on which the foundation walls were not made with as wide a base as was subsequently adopted.
This description of repair on the line of aqueduct proper, is now mainly done in Westchester County, and it is both hoped and expected, that the work when once finished, in at least the aqueduct or line department of it, (the tunnel of which being under ground) will, for ages to come, require no repair, excepting perhaps occasionally to replenish the waste of the earthen covering.
It is with great satisfaction that the capacity of the numer¬ ous culverts for waste water, under the aqueduct, has been found amply suflicient to discharge the water. This was an interesting subject upon which to be satisfied, for if they had not been found sufficient it would have been difficult to have remedied the evil. ,
The heavy wall fundation at Mill River, mentioned in our
87
[Doc. No. 17
report of January last, as not completed, has been progressing towards completion ; the foundation is now laid, and six or eight weeks will complete the aqueduct tunnel over the same. This embankment is an imposing part of the work, being a foundation and protection wall of seven hundred feet in length, with a base of extreme width of one hundred and forty feet, and extreme height of eighty-four feet.
The beautiful bridge at Sing Sing has remained during the winter without exhibiting the least settlement or defect in the work ; its construction reflects great credit on Col. Andrew Young, its builder.
The dam at the Croton River was contracted for, (after advertising) by Messrs. McCullough, Black & Co. The season has been by no means favorable for the speedy com¬ pletion of this work ; the heavy floods of rain kept the river high, and delayed the commencement of the work, the founda¬ tion at the bottom of the river being the part first required to be made. The state of the river is now more favorable, and we are determined to press this part of the work, so that by the setting in of winter the dam will be sufficiently high to commence throwing back the water into the tunnel of the aqueduct, which the contractors are bound by their contract to do..
The construction of the dam now building will, according to the estimates, amount to about one hundred and twenty- seven thousand dollars ; but it must be recollected that this dam will be a mason work dam, laid in hydraulic cement, in the place of the mere earthern filling in, with a dry pro¬ tection wall laid with rough stone, so that the dam when now finished, will be an entirely different structure from that part of the dam carried away, and will correspond in strength and durability with the rest of the work, certainly much more so than the dam as formerly constructed ; and as the dam creates the supply, the importance of its strength and durability, in the original construction, is very obvious.
Connected with the loss of the dam, have arisen the claims
Doc. No. 17.]
88
for damages, of perhaps thirty individuals, whose property was more or less affected by the floods in the month of January last. These individuals nearly all resided below the dam, or were the owners of property there. All the own¬ ers of property below the dam, had or will have claims on this department, for the diversion of the water of the river. We have gradually extinguished the right of ownership of the water and water power, by compromise, with the following persons, and for the sums set opposite their respective names :
|
John R. Griffin and wife . . . |
f 50 |
|
Moses Tompkins and wife . . |
900 |
|
Gilbert Pugsley . |
700 |
|
John Tompkins . . . . . |
650 |
|
Gilbert Hunter and wife .... |
125 |
|
Joshua Purdy and wife . |
1,400 |
|
Gabriel Purdy and wife . . . . |
550 |
|
Henry Lounsberry and wife . . |
600 |
|
Elias Purdy and wife . |
325 |
|
Philip G. Yan Wyck . |
2,100 |
|
Samuel W. Talbot . . . . |
3,000 |
|
James Palmer and wife . |
200 |
|
Do. do . |
600 for land.in fee. |
|
John R. Griffin and wife . . . . |
400 “ “ |
|
Gilbert Pugsley . |
400 « “ |
|
here are fifteen or sixteen other |
persons, also owners of |
land and water power, setting up claims for damage from the breaking away of the Croton Dam, with whom we are in progress of compromise for their water power, whose da¬ mages are generally small, but for which we do not admit that the Water Commissioners or Corporation are liable.
While we have not admitted, but denied, the obligation of this department, or the liability of the Corporation, to pay for damages by this flood, which caused ruin and devastation throughout the country, and on this same river, beyond any
89
[Doc. No. 17.
influence from the Croton Dam or works, yet we neverthe¬ less have taken from all such persons, whose water rights we purchased, a release and discharge from any right of ac¬ tion for damages that might by possibility be set up.
The greatest losers by the flood were the Messrs. Baileys, the owners of the wire factory. We had several confe¬ rences with these gentlemen, who are the owners of water power to be taken and paid for by the Water Commissioners, in addition to the claim which they set up for damages, and we were in hopes to have effected a compromise with them; but as yet this has not been accomplished, and they have sued the Corporation; which suit cannot, under any circumstances, embrace the question of the right of water, as this is at least a question only to be decided in proceed¬ ings commenced by or against the Board of Water Commis¬ sioners, under the Act to appoint Appraisers, and not by the common proceedings in Courts of Law or Equity. This suit against the Corporation, it is believed, is the first com¬ menced against them, and it certainly would be desirable that all these questions of damages, (if this department or the Cor¬ poration are liable,) should be appraised, as they have hereto¬ fore been appraised, by the Appraisers, who have (in nearly all cases in Westchester County) been the same individuals- they having become acquainted with the subject, and can conveniently examine the premises, certainly much more conveniently and correctly than any Jury could do.
The works on this island, including the reservoirs, the mains, Clendining Valley Bridges, and the tunnels, have been progressing during the summer, although retarded from the want of punctual payments, as hereafter set forth.
The foundation for the bridge over the Harlaem River, so far as piers Nos. 7, 8 and 9 are concerned, has been laid in the bed of the river, and the sinking of the coffer dams has been attended with less difficulty than was apprehended. In fact, the bed of the river, when cleared by the removal of the sand and mud, and the immense boulders found therein,
Doc. No. 17.]
90
has proved admirably calculated for the support of the lofty and imposing structure intended to rest upon it. For the particulars of this part of the work we refer to the Chief Engineer’s report annexed.
There is another subject to which we wish to call the se¬ rious attention of the Common Council : we refer to the great delay in the payment, both of the sums due the con¬ tractors and the funds necessary for incidental expenses, which includes the expenses of laying down pipes between Manhattan ville and the distributing reservoir. By the terms of the contracts entered into by this department with the contractors, monthly payments are to be made during the spring and summer, and bi-monthly payments during the winter. The estimates have always been made to the twenty- fifth of the month, and the payments are considered as due on the 1st proximo ; subject, however, to a retention of one- tenth part of such amount due, until the whole contract is satisfactorily completed. Ninety parts of the money ac¬ knowledged to be due is therefore regularly claimed to be due on the 1st of each month by the contractors; and the men whom we employ on daily wages have been, from the commencement of the work, paid once a month, which is a long time for laboring men to go without their pay.
To pay the laborers and contingent bills, we, for instance, drew a requisition on the Comptroller, on the 9th of March last, for $2,413 14, which was not paid until the 27th of March; on the 9th of April we drew for $4,311 59, paid on the 1st of May ; on the 3d of May we drew for $3,370 41, paid on the 29th of May; on the 8th of May we drew for $891 87, paid on the 28th of June ; on the 4th of June we drew for $3,910 53, paid on the 23d of June; on the 28th of June we drew for $4,396 96, paid on the 9th of July ; and on the 30th of June we drew for $5,000.
The last draft, for $5,000, was to place this Commission in funds to meet actual claims, which, by letter of the 30th of June, we informed the Comptroller would, on the first of
91
[Doc. No. 17.
July following, amount to $10,575. This draft has not been paid, nor has any answer been given to our letter. The re¬ sult is, we had not, and have not, themeans in the contingent fund to pay the bills due on the 1st instanti
The following statement shows more particularly what has been the state of our incidental fund and our indebted¬ ness during the last two months :
On the 6th of May we had in hand $559 19. There was due on the 1st of May $1,831 25 to the Engineer Corps, for their April pay roll ; and $1,954 28 to the pipe depart¬ ment, for labor, &c. for the same month. We were not in funds to pay these claims until the 29th of May.
On the 1st of June, we had in hand $19 07. There was due on that day to laborers and others for repairs made on the Aqueduct during May, $1,855 99, to the pipe department for labor, &c. for the same month $2,340 97, and to the Chief Engineer for his bill of incidental expenses, advanced in May, $242 82. We were not in funds to meet these claims until the 23d June, and $1,887 50 due the Engineer Corps, for their May pay rolls, was not paid until the 9th of July, we not having the money to discharge the debt before.
Again, on the 1st July, instant, we had in hand about $50.
There was due on that day —
The pay rolls for May, to the Engineer Corps, as
just before stated . $1887 50
The same for June pay roll . 1932 75
For repairs on the Aqueduct for June . 1172 76
For salaries . . . 1500 00
To pipe department, for labor, &c. for June .... 3347 30
Amounting in all to . $9840 31
To meet which, we received on the 9th July $4,396 96, leaving us still in debt for claims which should have been discharged on the 1st instant, the sum of $5,443 35, besides $1,900 due to B. F. Gedney, for his awarded damages. To
Doc. No. 17.]
92
these sums may be added $2,125, which will be due to the Chief Engineer and his principal Assistant, on the 19th in¬ stant, for quarter’s salary.
In addition to the above letter to the Comptroller, we, on the 13th of May last, wrote his Honor the Mayor a letter, of which the following is an extract :
“ On the 29th of April, we furnished the Comptroller with our requisition in favor of fourteen different companies of contractors, amounting to but $148,410, all for work north of Murray’s Hill.
“ The Comptroller has declined to meet this requisition, and these individuals are kept out of their money, some of which has now been earned nearly two months and a half. This non-compliance, in fact refusal, to provide for money to pay these creditors of the Corporation, has led to the break¬ ing off work by more than three hundred of the men em¬ ployed on the same, and the work at several important points is already stopped.”
We were in hopes that this would have led to greater punctuality, as the want of it could not but be perceived to have been of serious injury to the progress of the work, and to the interest of the city.
We furnished the Comptroller also, in the month of April last, with the amount required in each month, and have, as the 1st of each month approached, kept him advised as near¬ ly as possible, of our wants, but our requisitions or drafts have only been met with the great delay above specified : and when applied to by the contractors and creditors to know when they can expect to be paid, we are unable to make any reply, never knowing before-hand when the means will be placed in our hands.
Some additional difficulties have also grown out of the Croton Aqueduct Committee refusing to allow the payment of certain legal expenses incurred by this department, to set¬ tle the questions of law growing out of the difference of opi¬ nion in the courts, and afterwards the attendance of the
93
[Doc. No. 17.
Commissioners at Albany, to have this difficulty settled by Legislative enactment, as the mode most expedient and least expensive to the city ; but it is certainly to be regretted that such questions should delay the payments of the drafts of the Water Commissioners, as we are of course bound to account for all monies coming into our hands, and the State Law di¬ rects the Comptroller to pay our drafts, and also (which w have asked) a seini-annual examination of the accounts of this department by the Finance Committee, which is the Committee directed by law to examine the same, a measure we believe, never done from the commencement of the work, certainly never since we have been in office.
We have the more dwelt upon these delays and difficul¬ ties in payments, and the continued dishonour of our draft for $5000, from the fact that the Engineers estimated that in April, 1841, we should have done work and required money to the amount of $200,000, in May $175,000, and in June, $200,000, whereas the work actually done in March and April, amounted to but $148,410, in May to but $94,545, and in June to but $116,820, making a deficit of work in these months of $215,225 less than what ought to have been done by the estimate of the Chief Engineer.
Now, no doubt, much of this deficit of work which should have been done, has grown out of the want of punctual pay¬ ments : and that it has produced an uncertainty as to the time of completion of the work, and that a continuance of this irregularity in payments will certainly prevent the in¬ troduction of the Croton water into the City of New York, in the summer of 1842, agreeable to the previous expecta¬ tions of the Water Commissioners, the Corporation, and the citizens of New York.
All which is respectfully submitted.
SAMUEL STEVENS,
Z. RING,
JOHN D. WARD,
B. BIRDSALL,
SAMUEL R. CHILDS.
2
REPORT
ON THE
GENERAL STATE OF THE WORK
ON THE
CROTON AQUEDUCT.
New York, June 30th, 1841.
To the Honorable the Board of Wafer Commissioners of the City of New York :
Gentlemen —
With the exception of the failure of the guard bank of the Croton Dam by the water passing over it in the great flood of January last, the works of the aqueduct have stood the action of the winter and spring rains, without sustaining any important injury. With the exception of one instance, where a small culvert became choked up and the water rose over the backfilling, and washed away a small portion of the bank, the culverts have proved amply sufficient to pass the floods of the numerous streams that cross the line of aque¬ duct. In some instances where the banks were not protected by walls, the wash of the rains has more or less cut gullies and carried off the materials. While the operation of heavy rains has indicated the propriety of some additional protec¬ tion to the earth banks, or backfilling of the aqueduct, and the necessity of watchfulness in time of heavy floods, to pre¬ vent ice and drift wood from choking the mouths of the small culverts, no injury has been experienced that would in the least affect the regular flow of water in the aqueduct.
95
[Doc. No. 17.
The drains for conducting the land floods to the sluices and culverts provided to discharge them across the aqueduct, have, more or less, been filled by the deposite of earth, brought down from the side hills, that range along to a great extent above, aud contiguous to the line of aqueduct. *
Small parties of men have been employed since the com¬ mencement of the season, in clearing out the drains and strengthening the guard banks, and in more effectually pro¬ tecting the banks from washing, by, in some cases, raising the protection walls, in others, by covering the outside with a coating of stone chips and fragments obtained from the quarries in the vicinity, and to a small extent by turfing. The protection walling was originally carried to such an extent, that the additional work of protecting the banks will not be great, and is now in a good state of progress.
The Board are aware of the fact, that in several cases where the aqueduct is constructed on dry foundation walls, erected to maintain the grade line across low grounds, a set¬ tlement has taken place in the foundation, which has caused a slight check in the masonry of the arch. These checks have not been such as to cause any considerable leaking, and ;n most cases the fine sediment of the water that passes ovef the bottom, has been sufficient to render them entirely impervious, and the water has passed over them for months, without any evidence of leaking. Over the most prominent of these cases the water was several times let on last fall, and during the great flood in January last, the water passed over the breast of the gateway at the head of the aqueduct, and filled the same to near the top of the arch, discharging by the waste weir at Sing Sing, and at Mill River ; but no per¬ ceptible leakage, or unfavorable impression was made on the places referred to. The extent of aqueduct so affected is comparatively small, and it is believed, its permanent security will be effected at a moderate expense. The greatest part of the work considered necessary for this repair has been done, and the remainder is in progress. The principal settlement
96
Doc. No. 17.]
abovementioned, is believed to have arisen from the too rapid prosecution of the work at those places, the work not having time to become properly consolidated before the superstruc¬ ture was put on. This view is sustained by the fact, that in the more elevated foundation walls there has no check occurred worth mentioning ; while the most important have been in walls not exceeding twelve feet in height, and some not over four feet. In most cases the settlement appears to have come to a rest, not having indicated any change for several months, and it is confidently believed the measures in progress will be an effectual security.
In two of the tunnels cut in rock there are indications, from the decomposition that has appeared in the rock, of the necessity of extending the masonry to about fifty feet in one case, and forty in the other, to support the roof of the tunnels. Nothing has yet been done towards putting in this masonry, as it has but recently appeared to be necessary. The aque¬ duct would probably perform its duty for many years with¬ out any attention to these tunnels : it is, however, advisable that it should be done this season, as it can be done much more conveniently than at any future time.
The contractors for the unfinished work were generally in a good state of preparation at the commencement of the season to prosecute their work with energy ; but the fre¬ quency of rains during the month of April and early part of May, very materially retarded their progress, and much less work was done than was expected. The estimate due the 25th of April, being for two months, was not paid until about the 1st of June, instant, which delay caused much em¬ barrassment to those contractors who had not command of funds from other sources, producing much dissatisfaction, and suspension of work by the laborers ; and may be no¬ ticed as one of the causes of the small amount of work done in the month of May and early part of June.
The work under contract at the Croton Dam, was pecu¬ liarly retarded by the continued rains in the early part of the
97
[Doc. No. 17.
season. The first work that could be done there was neces¬ sarily to be done in the river, and the state of the water did not allow this to be commenced with much energy until about the 1st of June, instant ; since that time the channel of the river has been lowered, and the water brought to as low a level at the site of the dam as can reasonably be effect¬ ed. The coffer dam, which has still to be sunk in water varying from six to ten feet deep, has been in progress, and one of the piers was in place on the 24th, and the other on the 28th instant. The piers of the coffer are one hundred and eighty feet long, and the space between them is now be¬ ing filled with concrete masonry, and the work is expected to be ready to receive the pumps in a few days. After the water is emptied from the coffer dam, the field for operation will rapidly expand, and it is hoped the contractors will be prepared to carry it forward with all practicable energy.
The difficulty of doing a large amount of work, in a small place incommoded by a river that must necessarily pass over a great part of it, and the importance that is in this case in¬ volved in its accomplishment, must render this work a sub¬ ject of deep and constant solicitude. Although we are thrown to a late period in the season, in the commencement of this work, still, should the remainder prove favorable, and we are not disappointed in the capacity and energy of the contractors, the work may be so far advanced as to throw the water into the aqueduct in season for its anticipated in¬ troduction. Thus far, we have found no greater difficulties in the work itself than were anticipated, and the hope is strongly indulged that it will soon assume a progress that will justify the expectations that have been formed from its necessities, and the character of the men who have under¬ taken this important contract.
The contract of George Law, for the section at Mill River, the only unfinished contract between the Croton Dam and Harlaem River, is advancing as rapidly as the interest of the
Doc. No. 17.]
98
work requires, and will probably be completed in the month of August.
The work on the foundations at Harlaem River, proceeds but slowly. The impediments presented by the rock bould¬ ers to the dredging of the mud and sand, and also to the driv¬ ing of the sheeting piles, greatly retards the progress of this work. The foundation for the greater part of the third pier in the river is now laid bare, and the work of levelling off the rock to receive the masonry is progressing. The portion of the foundation above alluded to, is but a few feet below the bottom of the coffer dam frame, as sunk in the first in¬ stance ; but for the remaining part, being the north-west cor¬ ner, the rock dips so as to make it necessary to go down about fifteen feet below the frame, to obtain satisfactory foundation. This depression in the rock has caused much delay in pre¬ paring the foundation of this pier. It is believed, however, the difficulties attending this foundation will be overcome in the course of two weeks from this time.
The frame of the coffer dam of pier No. 10, being the 4th water pier, has been placed, and all but one side embanked; which has been sometime waiting for the piling in No. 11, (or the 5th water pier,) now so far completed that the em¬ bankment may be finished, and prepared to receive the pumps, in the course of two or three weeks. The frame of No. 11 (5th water pier) has been placed, and three-quarters of the sheeting piles driven. The dredging for Nos. 12 and 13 (6th and 7th water piers) is well advanced, and the frames may both be in place, and the sheet piling carried round them, during this season. These complete the river founda¬ tions, with the exception of some unimportant work at No. 14.
The masonry of two water piers has been brought to near high water level, and some progress made on the ma¬ sonry of two land piers. The fixtures for handling the stone in laying up the masonry, have been well arranged for convenience and efficiency. The elevating, moving and placing the stone is performed by steam power.
99
[Doc. No. 17.
It has been regarded as an indispensable consideration, that the work embraced in this contract should be put in such condition as would permit the proposed pipe for tempo¬ rary use to be laid down, and thus complete the connection between the aqueduct on each side of the valley. It is be¬ lieved this, will be secured by the time the work on the island is ready to receive the water.
The work between section 86 (Harlaem River) and For¬ tieth street may be regarded, on the whole, as in a fair state of progress at this time; though, as before observed, the amount of work for the season has been considerably below what was anticipated, and render it doubtful whether all the sections above the receiving reservoir will be completed this season. The contracts for sections 88, 89 and 90 are in the most backward state, as compared with what should have been expected from the character and amount of work to be done. It is satisfactory to observe, that on the contracts re¬ quiring the greatest amount of work, to wit, the two reser¬ voirs, the best progress has been made. All the contracts for this part of the work expire in October next; but there is no probability they will all be completed by that time, un¬ less a greatly increased energy is put forth in their prosecu¬ tion.
The work of laying the large pipes in Manhattan Valley, and between the receiving and distributing reservoirs, is in good progress.
The amount of work yet to be done, before the water can be let into the aqueduct, is large ; and some part of it, more particularly the work at the Croton Dam, will be attended with considerable difficulty and embarrassment in its accom¬ plishment. The frequent heavy rains in the early part of the season, and delay in the payment of the April estimate, have, so far, materially retarded its general progress this sea¬ son. It is believed, however, if no extraordinary occurrence should arise to embarrass operations on the work, it may be so far completed as to be ready to receive the water during
100
Doc. No. 17.]
the month of June, 1842, or within one year from this time.
To secure this result, it is important that the estimates to the contractors should be promptly paid.
This is demanded from considerations of sound policy as well as obligation to the contractors.
The expenditures are principally to workmen, the great body of whom depend on their monthly earnings for their subsistence, and who have very little credit beyond the regu¬ lar time of payment by the contractors; and if this is de¬ layed, they are embarrassed, and consequently dissatisfied, and often more or less of them refuse to work; which, if it does not wholly stop the work, the system of arrangement and operation is confused, and rendered less effectual than it should be for the force that remains. In their arrangements for the delivery of materials, it is very important to the con¬ tractors, as well as to the progress of the work, that efficiency and punctuality should be fully maintained; and this cannot be expected, if the contractor is not punctual on his part. The contracts that are unfinished, are most of them large, re¬ quiring from $5,000 to $25,000 worth of work per month. It is therefore obvious that the monthly obligations of the contractors must be large, involving many cases of urgent necessity for prompt payment. These remarks are made from the conviction that the time of completing the work will be materially affected by the degree of promptness in which the estimates on the progress of the work are made, more particularly on those contracts on which there is a large amount of work to be done.
The Board will perceive how inefficient will be the duty of this department, in insisting on more energetic progress, while the contractors can urge in excuse delay in the pay¬ ment of their estimates. The time of making the estimates has been fixed on the 25th of the month, in order to give time to prepare the papers by the 1st proximo ; on, or about which time payment is expected, as provided for in the con¬ tracts. It has rarely occurred that so great delay has been
101
[Doc. No. 17.
made in the payment of estimates, as that for 25th April, be¬ fore mentioned; but ten days to two weeks has often hap¬ pened; and the delay itself is less embarrassing than the un¬ certainty when it will be paid.
My apology, if any is necessary, for so freely remarking on the subject, must be found in the condition of the work, its near advancement to completion, the period looked to for so much maturity as will be sufficient for the aqueduct to commence the important functions for which it was under¬ taken; and my earnest desire, that no circumstances may operate to protract the accomplishment of a result to which the city must look with deep interest. Unless payment be promptly made, the contemplated time of completing the work will necessarily be extended to a more distant period.
My report of the 4th instant will supersede the necessity of any remarks in relation to the condition and wants of the Engineer Department. That report is respectfully referred to for any information that may be desired on this branch of the service, at this time.
Respectfully submitted.
JOHN B. JERVIS,
Chief Engineer N. Y. W. W.
3
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DOCUMENT No. 18.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 12, 1841.
Quarterly Report of the Croton Aqueduct Commissioner. Ordered on file and to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Croton Aqueduct Department, ) New York, July 1, 1841. ^
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York:
In compliance With the ordinance creating this depart¬ ment, the undersigned herewith presents a statement of the expenditures made during the quarter ending June 30th, a return- of the water pipes and other materials on hand, and the quantities of pipes, &c. under contract.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
H. A. NORRIS,
Croton Aqueduct Commissioner.
Doc. No. 18.]
104
Croton Aqueduct Department, ? New York, July 1, 1841. )
REPORT OF EXPENDITURES From 1st April to 30th June, 1841, inclusive.
Water Pipes and Branches.
Paid Stephen Colwell . $21,306 47
“ Joseph W. Brick . 13,076 75
“ Ward, Stillman <fc Co . 14,576 66
“ Ellicott & Brothers . 34,157 24
“ John Cumings . 4,756 66
“ A. M. Jones & Brother . . 4,319 29
“ David C. Wood . 4,637 64
“ T. & G. Rowe . 368 67
- $97,199 38
Stopcocks.
Paid James Robertson . 4,615 00
Hydrants.
Paid T. & G. Rowe, castings - $2,625 82
“ James Robertson, fitting up . . 3,600 00
- 6,225 82
Repairing Stopcocks and Hydrants.
Paid James Robertson . 32 80
Lead for Joints.
5,019 04
Paid James McCullough .
Amount carried forward
$112,992 04
105
[Doc. No. 18.
Amount brought forward . $ 112,992 04
Yarn for Joints.
Paid R. B. Dikeman . 355 62
Cartage of Pipes.
Paid Patrick Galligher . $213 39
“ Henry Saelor . 208 50
“ Patrick Slaven . 203 63
“ John J. Cooper . 208 50
“ Thomas Miller . 176 ^99
“ Thomas Miller, jun . 162 37
“ Mathias Carstine . 207 50
“ John C. Wandell . 132 38
“ Abraham Teale . . . 205 87
“ Isaac Tanderbeck . 194 26
“ Thomas Maher . 206 89
“ Peter Hamill . 178 74
“ George McNamara . 197 99
“ Henry Chanfraud . 131 26
“ Peter Speir . 154 49
“ Perez Reynolds . 10 13
“ William Evers . 9 50
“ T. & G. Rowe . 1 87
- 2,804 26
Digging and Filling Trenches and Repaving Streets.
Paid Samuel S. Wandell . 16,726 60
Repairing Sewers.
Paid J. N. Jaques . 75 50
Amount carried forward . 132,953 82
Doc. No. 18.]
106
Amount brought forward . . $132,953 82
Tools and Repairing Tools.
Paid J. A. Coffin . $15 24
“ Edward Field & Co . 57 00
“ William Conden . 90 31
“ John J. Moffat . . . 205 22
“ Moore & Vanderbeck. . 32 52
“ John Goodwin . . 11 50
“ John C. Robertson . 63 47
- 475 26
Whitewashing Pipes.
Paid Samuel S. Wandell . . . 361 68
Patterns.
Paid John Cumings . $97 63
“ T. &G. Rowe . • . . 3151
- 129 14
. Pine Wood.
Paid Reuben Smith . 196 89
House for Press and Scale.
Paid John J. Moffat . . . . . 376 71
Hydrostatic Press.
Paid Ward, Stillman & Co . 1,250 00
Amount carried forward . . $135,743 50
107 [Doc. No, 18,
Amount brought forward . . , _ . §135,743 50
Contingent Expenses.
Paid James A. Coffin, rosin . . . § 2 00
“ George Wickes, plugs .......... 35 37
“ William Plumb, sundry bills for coal, cloth for maps, kettle for lead, postage, New York Stan¬ dard, oil, brooms, &c. &c . 57 32
- 94 69
Workmen’s Wages.
Paid foremen, and workmen on the lines and at the yard, one clerk and one draughtsman _ 6,206 52
§142,044 71
Number of the different sizes of Water Pipes and their connections , on hand Is* July, 1841.
Pipes, 20 inches diameter 1,747 feet. “ 16 « “ 6,719 “
“ 6 “ •< 3,780 “
“ 4 “ “ 6,372 “
Total number of feet 18,618
Branches, from 20 to 4 inches diameter 269 Caps, 12, 10, 6 and 4 ... . “
Circular .
Bevel hubs, from 20 to 6 “
Reducers, “ 12 to 6 “
Frames and covers, .
Sleeves, 16, 12, 10, 6 and 4 “
Stopcocks, 12 . <«
. 254 ..52 .. 67 .. 21 . 391 181 .. 25
108
Doc. No. 18.]
Stopcocks, 6 inches diameter .... 29
“ (old) 6 “ . 2
“ “ 12 . . “ - “ . 8
Hydrants, new . 7
« old . 9
“ castings . 18 sets
At Fort Gansevoort , condemned. Pipe of 12 inches diameter, 828 feet.
Water Pipes and their connections , under contract and not delivered , July Is#, 1841.
|
Contractors’ Names ■ Johnston & Kinsman |
Quantities . Size • 5,555 feet 36-inch |
pipe |
|
|
Ward, Stillman & Co. |
3,994 “ |
36 “ |
u |
|
Ellicott & Brothers |
9,562 « |
20 “ |
ti |
|
« “ |
4,059 “ |
16 « |
u |
|
Ward, Stillman & Co. |
151 « |
12 “ |
a |
|
John Cumings |
2,763 « |
12 « |
u |
|
David C. Wood |
1,914 « |
12 “ |
u |
|
7,437 “ |
6 “ |
ti |
|
|
A. M. Jones & Brother |
21,053 « |
6 “ |
tt |
|
Ellicott & Brothers |
63,394 « |
6 « |
tt |
|
Johnston & Kinsman |
75,000 |
6 « |
|
|
Stephen Colwell |
26,094 “ |
6 “ |
|
|
James Robertson |
96 |
12 « |
stopcocks |
|
« |
81 |
6 “ |
11 |
DOCUMENT No. 19.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 12, 1841.
Communication from the Comptroller , relative to the Appropriations and Expenditures of the year 1841. Resolution adopted.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Resolved , That it be printed and be referred to the Fi¬ nance Committee, and that so much of it as refers to the ex¬ penditures of the Alms House, Cleaning Streets, Cleaning Docks and Slips, Fire Department, Lands and Places, Police and Repairs, be referred to the Committees on the subjects in question.
By James Pollock.
Comptroller’s Office, ) New York, July 12, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
I respectfully present to the Board of Aldermen a state¬ ment of the ordinary expenditures of the City and County,
110
Doc. No. 19.]
for the first six months of the year ending the 1st of July instant ; and also the estimates for the year, upon which the tax authorized to meet these expenditures was based. From this statement, it will appear that the expenditures under the heads of accounts, Building and Repairing Docks and Slips, Coroner’s Fees, Elections, Intestate Estates, Justices Courts, Printing and Stationery, Salaries, Street Expenses, and Watch, are below the estimates. That those under the heads of accounts, Board of Health, Charities, Courts, Lamps and Gass, Markets, Penalties, Public Reservoir, and Roads and Avenues, are not materially above the estimates ; and that the expenditures under the heads of accounts, Alms House, Cleaning Streets, Cleaning Docks and Slips, County Con¬ tingencies, Fire Department, Lands and Places, Police, and Repairs and Supplies, exceed the estimate in large sums, varying from $1000 to 25,000, for the six months. Indeed the Fire Department, Lands and Places, and County Con- tingencies'accounts appear to be nearly exhausted, and will need some Legislative action previous to the recess, if the same rate of expenditure be continued ; while the other ac¬ counts last above mentioned, will, at the previous rate of ex¬ penditure, be exhausted early in the fall. It will be recol¬ lected that the amount of the tax authorized cannot be in¬ creased at pleasure, to cover any expenditure over the esti¬ mates upon which it was founded, and that unless a reduc¬ tion in some of the accounts, sufficient to cover the excess in others, be effected, it is obvious that such excess will con¬ stitute a debt unprovided for, at tire end of the year. Under these circumstances, the Comptroller has deemed it expedient to make this statement, and also to apprise those members of the Common Council that may be unacquainted with the fact, ■{ hat some of the estimates for this year were predicated upon an implied change of system in some of the depart¬ ments of the city service.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
STATEMENT
Expenditures for the first half of the Year 1841,
OJf THE PRINCIPAL. HEADS OF ACCOUNTS.
|
Account. |
Expenditure. |
Year’s Appropriations. |
|
Docks and Slips — Building > ®oo q63 |
$65,000 |
|
|
and Repairs to . |
||
|
Coroner’s Fees . |
. . . . 2,186 |
5,000 |
|
Elections . |
, . . . 29,749 |
60,000 |
|
Intestate Estates . |
762 |
1,800 |
|
Justices’ Courts . |
. . . . 7,400 |
15,000 |
|
Printing and Stationery . . . |
. . . . 9,295 |
20,000 |
|
Salaries . |
. . . . 29,740 |
60,000 |
|
Street expenses . |
. . . . 8,637 |
40,000 |
|
Watch . |
.... 116,918 |
234,000 |
|
$236,150 |
500,800 |
|
|
Board of Health . |
. . . . 3,142 |
5,500 |
|
Charities . |
. . . . 4,071 |
8,000 |
|
. . . . 22,715 |
40,000 |
|
|
Lamps and Gas . |
. . . . 63,149 |
120,000 |
|
Markets . |
.... 7,629 |
14,500 |
|
Penalties . |
.... 1,525 |
3,000 |
|
Public Reservoir . |
.... 3,769 |
6,000 |
|
Roads and Avenues . |
.... 13,842 |
27,000 |
|
$119,842 |
$224,000 |
|
|
Alms House . |
.... 140,497 |
250,000 |
|
Cleaning Streets . |
.... 95,420 |
141,500 |
|
Cleaning Docks and Slips . |
. . . . 5,933 |
10,000 |
|
County Contingencies. . . . |
. . . . 27,046 |
30,000 |
|
Fire Department . |
.... 38,958 |
45,000 |
|
Lands and Places . |
. . . . 8,210 |
10,000 |
|
Police . |
.... 21,709 |
37,500 |
|
Repairs and Supplies . . . . |
. . . . 19,074 |
28,000 |
|
$356,847 |
$552,000 |
Difference.
$14,250 under.
$7,842 over.
$80,847 over.
|
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v' ' |
|
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fc.: ' r~? |
|
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|
|
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|
|
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|
|
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|
|
000.> |
rr / ... |
|
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' : |
|
. . |
|
|
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|
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. . ihir. U
nrJaaH i >
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' I»u«
DOCUMENT No. 20.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 12, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accordance with an Ordinance to provide for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accord¬ ance with the ordinance providing for the accountability of Committees, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting of the Committee, held July 7, 1841, a majority being present, bills to the amount of $1627 90, were examined and passed by them — $1,005 31 of which was expended for repairs and supplies, and $622 59 for the Fire Department, viz: .
Doc. No. 20.]
114
Repairs and Supplies.
Workmen’s wages at public yard, &c... $473 95 Materials, labor, &c . . . 531 36
$1,005 31 622 59
$1,627 90
Fire
Department
$312 45 310 14
Rsspectfully submitted.
F. R. LEE,
G. B. TIMPSON, CALVIN BALIS.
DOCUMENT No. 21.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 12, 1841.
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Committee, in compliance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accountability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Or¬ dered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in accordance with the ordinance on the accountability of Executive Com¬ mittees, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting held July 8, 1841, bills to the amount of $61,205 38 were examined and passed by them, viz:
Workmen’s wages . $1,332 61
S. S. Wandell, digging and paving. . . 2,662 00
Stephen Colwell, pipes . 6,355 73
Carried forward . $10,350 34
Doc. No. 2f.]
116
Brought forward David C. Wood, pipes
Ward, Stillman & Co. do. A. M. Jones & Brothers, do. John Cummings, do.
James McCullough, lead .
James Robertson, stopcocks
T. & G. Rowe, castings .
Fare & Fowler, scales .
Choller & Jones, pipes
Merrick &.Town, do .
Winterton & Myer, do .
Wm. Plumb, office expenses Cartage of pipes .
$10,350 34 2,381 32 4,847 09 4,130 54 1,921 48 3,367 78 1,380 00 370 31 90 00 20,042 18 9,031 58 1,735 67 47 34 909 75
$61,205 38
At the same time a contract was authorized to be made with Ellicott & Brothers, of Baltimore, for four hundred tons ol 24-inch pipe, at $55 per ton.
Respectfully submitted,
MOSES G. LEONARD, F. R. LEE.
REPORT
OF THE
COMMISSIONERS
SCHOOL MONEYS,
For the Year ending May ls£, 1841.
DOCUMENT MO. 22.
PRINTERS.
DOCUMENT No. 22.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 26, 1841.
Report of the Commissioners of School Moneys, for the year ending May 1st, 1841. Laid on the table , and double the usual number of copies ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Corporation of the City of New "York, and the Superintendent of Common Schools of the State of New York :
The report of the Commissioners of School Moneys, for the City and County of New York, for the year ending the 1st May, 1841, respectfully
SHOWETH :
That the sum to be distributed by them the presentTyear was one hundred and thirty thousand three hundred and thirty-seven dollars and eighty-two cents. This amount in¬ cluded the balance standing to their credit on the books of
Doc. No. 22.]
120
the Bank of the State of New York, after the distribution of the preceding year, of $7 62 ; and is derived from that ba¬ lance, the sum of $35,415 10 deposited from the State Trea¬ sury, the like sum of $35,415 10 raised as the equivalent to the State contribution by taxation on the city, and the addi¬ tional sum of $60,000, less $500, appropriated to the ex¬ penses of the Commissioners, arising from the tax peculiar and confined to the City of New York, for the objects of pub¬ lic education. Of the aggregate sum thus assigned for dis¬ tribution, the amount of $130,323 97 has been paid over to the establishments participating of the school moneys agree¬ ably to law, leaving a balance in the said bank to the credit of the Commissioners of $13 85.
The schedule No. 1, annexed hereto, contains the usual account of these particulars.
In schedule No. 2, also annexed, the schools are men¬ tioned among which the monies were divided ; the sums ap¬ portioned to each are set forth, together with the quarterly average attendances of scholars, and the average of those at¬ tendances during the entire year, consisting of five hundred half days, as directed by law. In addition to these particu¬ lars, the same schedule shows, in conformity with the inten¬ tion announced in last year’s report, the whole number of scholars who attended and were enrolled on the registers of the schools at any time within the year which expired on the first of May last. With respect to the Catholic Orphan Asy¬ lum, the Half Orphan Asylum, the Manhattan Free School, and the Hamilton School, near Fort Washington, the parti¬ culars in respect to the latter attendances and enrolments were not obtained, and the Commissioners have accordingly assumed in the schedule that they amounted in number to the average attendance throughout the year, than which they doubtless were more numerous. The whole number of scholars registered as attending in the schools participating of the school moneys, at any time within the year, will be found by an examination of the schedule referred to, to be
121
[Doc. No. 22.
41,385, exceeding by several thousands the estimate made conjecturally by the Commissioners in their report of last year in respect to that year. Of these all but 1,828 were taught in the schools of the Public School Society, in which latter were enrolled 39,557 scholars between the ages of four and sixteen years, besides 397 children under the age of four years.
The same schedule contains also an account of the whole average number of scholars who actually attended the schools during the entire year the schools were open, disre¬ garding the arbitrary rule of five hundred attendances per year, which regulate the distribution. In respect to the schools of the four societies before mentioned, a like assump¬ tion has been made as before explained. From this part of the schedule it will appear that the actual attendances throughout the entire year, exceeded the number as ascer¬ tained by the legal rule to the extent of 729.
As the forms furnished for the returns from the schools are in some respects imperfect, and do not embrace particu¬ lars which are of great interest to the community, the Com¬ missioners recommend that new forms be provided; which, in addition to the items prescribed by the Legislature of the State and the Corporation of the City, may bring to the knowledge of the public the particulars alluded to. Any duty that may be required from the Commissioners, in aid of this object, will be readily performed.
The schedule No. 3, which is annexed to this report, gives the information required by law, of the distribution in 1840; the manner of its expenditure ; the times the schools were open ; and the state of the schools, their property and affairs, as far as the same have been reported to the Commissioners, in obedience to existing statutes.
Of the schools, the Commissioners are able to speak in the same commendatory terms as in their last annual report. Owing to the great prevalence of sickness among children, and the unusual number of stormy days during the quarter
Doc. No. 22.]
122
preceding the first of May last, the attendances at the schools of the Public School Society were diminished below the attendances of the three preceding quarters. It will be seen notwithstanding, that the schools exhibit an increased num¬ ber of pupils over that of the last year.
The building for the Institution of the Blind is nearly completed, and the scholars have already been removed to the improved accommodations which the new structure fur¬ nishes. The Half Orphan Asylum has taken possession of the comfortable retreat recently erected for their use, in which the necessary rooms are provided for additional objects of their charity. Some of the establishments subject to our vi¬ sitation have incurred, in the prosecution of their laudable aims, considerable debts; but the private liberality and the public spirit which have fostered them into their present pro¬ mising state, will doubtless provide the means of lifting them from all embarrassments.
The Commissioners had wished, if their responsibilities permitted, to close their ( report with the aforegoing details. But among the duties with which they are charged, is that of reporting as to all matters they may deem necessary to promote the interests of the schools subject to their visita¬ tion. Questions have lately been much agitated, which deeply involve the welfare, and, probably, the continuance of institutions that have justly been considered the noblest possession of our city; and those questions have no unim¬ portant bearing on the political and religious rights of the citizen. Under such circumstances, the Commissioners might be considered as unmindful of their obligations, if they avoided all reference to the matter. Constituted as their Board is, indiscriminately in relation to political sentiment; forbidden by the law and by the nature of their office, from connexion with any of the schools to which they pay the public moneys ; and not knowing in the execution of their duty, nor caring to know, any differences of religious doc¬ trine which separate them as individuals, they may at least
123
[Doc. No. 22.
claim the merit of impartiality in their opinions, whatever be the weight that shall attach to them. In the expression of these opinions, they will use the freedom inseparable from their obligations ; but not intending offence, they do not fear that they shall give any. Of the system of which they at present form a part, they will speak without any appre¬ hension that selfish or personal feelings can be ascribed to them. Their term of service will, in a few months, expire. Their office is one, in which their individual convenience and avocations are very often made to yield to their public duty ; which is unconnected with any power of patronage or favor; which they have always been willing to resign to any, who with their amount of zeal would surpass their humble ability; which was accepted only because some must perform it — and none who can attend to it, faithfully, should refuse; and which has rendered no compensating re¬ turn, but in the feelings awakened by the immense public benefits of which it has made them the witnesses.
It is well known that the education of the youth of this city, by means of the public fund devoted to that purpose, has been placed mainly in the hands of a body of citizens denominated the Public School Society of the City of New York. So inconsiderable are the exceptions from this con¬ trol, and so peculiar the circumstances under which each exception is made, that the citizens alluded to may be deemed to have the entire practical execution of the city system of instruction committed to them, subject only to the limitations and government hereafter adverted to. In this broad view we shall consider the society throughout this report.
As erroneous impressions partially exist in matters which ought to be better understood, it will be proper to prepare the way for their correction, by some statements in regard to the fund devoted to public education in this city; to the body by whom the schools are designated which partake of that public fund ; to the officers by whom the division of it is made ; and to the composition and performance of the Pub-
Doc. No. 22.]
124
lie School Society. These details will swell this report be¬ yond the compass within which we had hoped to confine it; but their’ importance and necessity seem so manifest, that we must run the hazard of prolixity.
The public fund, then, assigned to the education of youth in this city, is derived, to the extent of somewhat more than one-fourth part of its amount, from our just proportion of the income of certain funds of the State; an equal sum is raised by taxation on the real and personal estate in the city, by virtue of a general law which places the city in that respect under the like rateable burden imposed on the inhabitants of the rest of the State for purposes of education. In addition to these amounts, however, a tax peculiar and confined to the city, is raised on the real and personal estate within it, of a sum almost equalling both the proportions of the fund, which are before mentioned. The latter tax grew out of the willingness of our citizens to pay this further amount in order to secure to our community the comprehensive, liberal andefficient system of education adopted by the PublicSchool Society. If this object shall be defeated, wholly or partially, by a discouragement of their schools, and the substitution of establishments of less general benefit, the repeal or the non¬ assessment of the additional tax would, we presume, follow as a matter of course.
The designation of the schools which participate of the above fund is confided to the Corporation of the City ; the members of the Common Council being annually chosen for the several wards by the citizens of the wards possessing the like qualifications as the electors for members of the State Legislature ; and the Mayor, or corporate head, who has a veto on their proceedings, being elected by the whole body of citizens authorized to vote for members of the Common Council. The Corporation is required by law to prescribe the rules and regulations under which the public moneys shall be distributed, and provision has accordingly been made for protecting the rights of the people' in the schools of the
125
[Doc. No. 22.
society, for the due supervision of .the schools, both on the part of the public and of the Trustees, and for securing from the schools a full performance of all their obligations. A failure in the performance would be followed by the penalty of a withdrawal of the fund appropriated for the support of the schools.
The payment of the school moneys, which is regulated by rules prescribed by law, is committed to a Board of Commissioners chosen by the people of the city through their representatives in the Common Council, in a mode analogous to that by which appointments are made by the State Legislature, to the offices of Secretary of State, (who is ex-officio the Superintendent of all the Common Schools of the State,) State Treasurer, Comptroller, Canal Commis¬ sioners, Senators in Congress, &c. One Commmissioner of School Money is thus selected front each ward, for the term of three years, and any vacancy in their Board is supplied by the Common Council for the residue of the term. The moneys to be distributed are lodged by the Chamberlain of the City to the credit of the Commissioners, in an incorpo¬ rated bank, from which they are drawn only by checks signed at a meeting of the Board, by a majority of the Com¬ missioners, and made payable to the society. The Commis¬ sioners are bound to make visits half-yearly at least, to all the schools; which duty is performed, as to such of the pri¬ mary schools as are not held in the same building as the public schools, by Committees; and as to the residue, and to all the public schools, by the whole Board. The Board, be¬ fore making these general visits, are bound to give three days notice of the intended visitation to all the members of the Common Council, and to such members of the Legisla¬ ture as reside in the city; and some of these representatives of the people always accompany the Board on such occa- , sions. The examinations of the pupils are invariably made at the opening of the book, by any Commissioner or visitor named by the Chairman, at the instant, without any know- 2
Doc. No 22.]
126
ledge until that moment, on the part of the examiner, teacher' or pupil, what book or subject would be selected, or what individual would conduct it. The Board of Cpmmissioners have, besides their stated quarterly meetings, a sufficient number of meetings for the half-yearly visitations, and spe¬ cial meetings whenever occasion requires; and they perform, individually or by Committees, any duties which their office may demand, additional to those above enumerated. Of all their proceedings and reports, a regular record is kept; and fines are, by a voluntary regulation, exacted from absentees from their meetings, without sufficient excuse, to be judged of by the whole Board. Their actual expenses, not exceed¬ ing five hundred dollars in any year, are reimbursed to them. Reports, annually made according to law, to the Su¬ perintendent of Common Schools, and to the Corporation of the City, show the division of the school moneys, and the manner in which those allotted the preceding year have been expended. They also show the average number of scholars who have belonged to the schools within each quarter, and the average attendances during the whole year ; the year be¬ ing arbitrarily composed of five hundred half days, and the distribution being determined upon the latter average. In regard to attendances, the law of the State prescribes a diffe¬ rent mode of reporting them for this city, as distinguished from the rest of the State ; the attendances reported from the district schools in the latter, embracing every pupil who has been at school for even a single day, and the distribu¬ tion being governed by the whole number of children resid¬ ing within the respective districts, without regard to the ex¬ tent or duration of their attendance.
The Public School Society, to whom the daily conduct of the schools is committed, is, in effect, under the laws of the State and of the Corporation of New York,' the body of citizens possessing the qualification prescribed by the Legis¬ lature, and the regulations it has authorized, to entitle them to become voters at the election of Trustees of the Schools
127
[Doc. No. 22.
which carry out the system of general education in the city. The qualification consists in the payment at any time of the sum of ten dollars, which forever entitles the contributor to this elective franchise; and, as will be seen hereafter, is founded on a more liberal principle than the qualification prescribed for voters for Trustees of the Common Schools of the rest of the State. The society has the corporate powers often annexed to other franchises, suitable to the accomplish¬ ment of its objects ; and does not differ in character in this respect, from the quasi-corporations which regulate the dis¬ trict schools. No control can be exercised by the society over the admission of a member ; the franchise being ob¬ tained as a matter of right, by any citizen, without election, solicitation, or badge of sect or party, by the mere act of the contribution. No one can be excluded from the qualifica¬ tion, who chooses to submit to its requirements; and its es¬ sentials are such as every industrious, prudent citizen can attain, by renouncing, for a short time, superfluities or inju¬ rious indulgences. The contribution is equal to a perpe¬ tuity of only seventy cents per year. Fifty Trustees are annually elected by these voters from their own body. The society has, in practice, generally adopted the wise policy of preferring those who, in a former execution of the same office, have signalized themselves by their assiduous and persevering attention. An abstract, exhibiting the extent of each Trustee’s visitation and superintendence, during the antecedent year, is compiled from the school records, and publicly shown at every election, when inexcusable omission of duty meets its due requital. These fifty, of the very elite of the society, as regards the love of the labor committed to them, and of its faithful discharge, may choose, if they think proper, an equal number of the whole body entitled to vote, as Associate Trustees; and in doing so, they select those whom it is supposed will be most ardent and efficient in the performance of their duty. Such is the formation of the Board of Trustees. For the practical performance of their duty
Doc. No. 22.]
128
in the supervision of the schools, the weekly examination of the pupils, and the occasional advice necessary for the teachers, the Trustees are divided into sections , each em¬ bracing one public school building, and the primary schools attached thereto. Each section meets once in each month, to consider the concerns and interests of its own schools, and to appoint School Committees to superintend them dur¬ ing the recess of the section, and discharge the duties of ex¬ amination and advice before mentioned. In books of mi¬ nutes, kept at each of the schools, each member of the Com¬ mittee must note his attendances, and write any transactions worthy of record. This book is produced and read at the stated monthly meetings of the section, who make a quar¬ terly report to the whole Board of Trustees, embracing a view of the state of the schools of the section ; of its own proceedings, and those of its Committees ; of the number of times each member of the School Committee has, during the quarter, visited the schools ; and of any propositions in¬ tended for the consideration of the Board of Trustees at its quarterly meetings. An Executive Committee, of which the Chairman of such section is ex-officio a member, is charged with the general superintending care of the schools, during the recess of the Board of Trustees ; and meet accordingly once in each month, and oftener, at the request of either of their number. This Committee reports annually, on the general state of the schools, to the Board of Trustees ; who, from the materials obtained from all the reports presented to them, and their own observation, report to the society at large. In addition to their quarterly meetings, meetings of all the Trustees are annually held in school hours, in each of the schools, for the purpose of general inspection.
The Trustees are obliged, annually, to report to the Cor¬ poration of the city and to the Superintendent of Common Schools, “ a particular account of the state of their schools, and of the moneys received and expended by them the year preceding, so as to exhibit a full aud perfect statement of the property, funds and affairs of the society.”
129
[Doc. No. 22.
The schools of the society are designated by the names of Primary and Public. The former, of which all the teachers are females, are open to all girls over four years of age, and to boys between four and ten. In these the simplest ele¬ ments of literary education are taught ; and also, among the girls, plain sewing. Perfection in the studies of a lower class is requisite before a child is advanced to a higher. When a pupil has learned to spell correctly and deliberately, read audibly, and write pretty well on the slates, a recom¬ mendation is given by the teacher for admission into a pub¬ lic school, and after satisfactory examination the child is ad¬ vanced. It is enjoined as a duty on the teachers of these schools, to make themselves acquainted with the inhabitants of the district in which the school is located, and particu¬ larly with those of the poorest classes, in order to induce them to send their children to school. The better to insure the attention of the teachers to this duty, the amount of their pay is made dependent on the number of children under their tuition.
In the public schools, where due provision is also made for the tuition of boys over the age of ten years, who have not acquired the knowledge imparted by the primary schools, the tuition of the boys and of the girls is conducted in separate rooms of the school house, under teachers of their own sex. The course of instruction for the boys embraces spelling, reading, including definitions and questions concerning the meaning of the author, writing, making and mending pens, arithmetic, geography, use of the globes and drawing of maps, English grammar, composition and declamation, book¬ keeping and the elements of history, astronomy, algebra, geometry and trigonometry respectively. The girls are taught in all these branches, except declamation, algebra, geometry and trigonometry, and with the addition of needle¬ work. Strict rules of the society secure the punctual at¬ tendance of the teachers; their attention to the comfort cleanliness, and morals of the scholars, to the ventilation and
t>oc. No. 22.]
130
temperature of the school rooms, to the causes of the absence of pupils, and to the care of the children, as far as possible, both in and out of. the schools. The mildest punishments which can produce reform are alone resorted to, and the teachers can expel a pupil, only with the consent of the School Committee or of the section, for habitual disregard of duty or flagrant offence — of which the reason must be com¬ municated to the parent, who may appeal to the Board of Trustees. Registers kept, of the names and occupations of the parents — the names of the children, and of the attendance, merits and deficiencies of the latter, are duly exhibited to the Trustees. The system of teaching throughout the schools is uniform, so that a child removing from one neigh¬ borhood to another, is not interrupted in his course by the change of his school. But in order to obtain any advantages that may accrue from the experience of the teachers, or the suggestions of others — stated meetings are held by the teachers for the purpose of considering the means of im¬ proving their schools, at which meetings also they compare the progress of the schools respectively. Any improvement in the mode of teaching recommended by a majority of them, if formally approved of by the Trustees, is adopted in prac¬ tice.
Each school is provided with a thermometer, in order to regulate the temperature of the school in the cold season ; and in each public school building, a library is contained, of the value of not less than fifty dollars, nor more than one hundred dollars, consisting of books of voyages, travels, his¬ tory, &c, to which such pupils as may be selected by the teacher on account of proficiency and good conduct, are ad¬ mitted, and may take home from thence one book at a time.
The schools are all divided into classes, pursuing in each the same studies. A mere certificate, properly authenticated, that a child is within the ages of four and sixteen years, en¬ titles him to admission in the schools, and the tuition and all books and materials necessary for the education of the pupil, are furnished without cost to his parents or guardians.
131
[Doc. No. 22.
By these regulations governing the society and its schools, and other auxiliary provisions, a constant supervision is kept over the scholars, the teachers, the Board of Trustees, its sections Committees and individual members, producing amongall the greatest zeal and emulation for the accomplishment of the public aim in view, and resulting in a practical education, offered to the whole youth of the city, carried out in all its bearings with a perfection and efficiency which challenge a comparison of the schools with any others in the world pro¬ fessing the like range of instruction. More than one hundred of these schools are now scattered throughout the city, deter¬ mined in their location by the wants of the respective neigh¬ borhoods — and inviting, by means of agents, who patrol the districts for the purpose, every poor and destitute child whose parents are insensible to their duty to their offspring, to come and partake of the benefits within his reach. Nearly forty thousand children have during the year ending the first day of May last, been enrolled on their registers, and obtained in¬ struction for a greater or lesser period. All this good is ef¬ fected without the payment of any salary or expenditure, other than the compensation of teachers and agents, the pur¬ chase of books and necessaries for the instruction of the pupils, and the erection and repair of the school houses. No personal or individual advantage results to the Trustees from their services, which springing from the noblest feelings of the human heart, secure gratuitously, public benefits of a character and extent that mercenary motives could never accomplish.
Blessings of the magnitude and interest we have described, ought to be carefully cherished by all who can exercise any control over them ; and the hand of experiment should be stayed from an interference, that with mere partial objects, of disputed utility, might impair or destroy the general be¬ nefit. Sensible of these truths, the great body of the citi¬ zens of New York, and their representatives in their local legislature, far from asking any alteration in the system,
Doc. No. 22.]
132
have uniformly approved of, and defended it. A number of persons however, mostly of foreign birth, and belonging to a respectable, denomination of Christians, the Roman Ca¬ tholic, have solicited a change, on the ground that their con¬ scientious scruples require that any schools in which the children of their communion are educated, shall, during a certain part of the day, combine the religious instruction of their faith with the literary studies pursued in them. It is proper to add, that by no other denomination has any com¬ plaint been made, and that we understand that the senti¬ ment alluded to is not general among the Catholic residents among us from abroad; a large proportion of them believing that the proposed schools would be, for the most part, com¬ posed of the children of foreigners, who might thus lose, in a great measure, the temporal benefits to be derived from an association, at school, with the native children of the repub¬ lic, and that the fitting place for sectarian culture is the pu¬ pil’s home or his church. At the solicitation, however, be¬ fore referred to, projects have been submitted to the conside¬ ration of the Legislature, which, if adopted, would, we be¬ lieve, violate the received political maxims which have go¬ verned our country ; and erect, over the ruins of the noble structure we have described, institutions of narrow and par¬ tial utility, exclusive in their composition and government, and condemned by former experience.
Vague and general rumors having found their way to the public, affecting the character and efficiency of the schools, and impugning the conduct of the Trustees of the Public School Society, several gentlemen of the city, de¬ scribed by the Secretary of State to be “ eminently qualified,” were selected by him, for the purpose of making a personal examination of the schools, who diligently conducted a labo¬ rious inquiry, and submitted to that functionary “ a mass of valuable information.” In his report to the Legislature on the subject of the system of education here, he bears the tes¬ timony which will ever be the consequence of such investi-
133
[Doc. No. 22.
gations, as long as the schools are conducted as they have hitherto been. “ The results of these inquiries,” we copy his language, “ show, very satisfactorily, that commodious houses and good teachers are provided by the Public School Society ; that the system of instruction is well devised and faithfully executed ; that an efficient plan of visitation and inspection is prescribed by the Trustees ; and, although he has not positive information on the subject, he has no reason to doubt, that such a plan is carried into practical execution.” “ Certain it is,” he adds, “ that the Trustees of the Society have exhibited the most praiseworthy zeal and devotion in discharge of the great trust devolved on them; and many, if not all of them, have spared no exertions to bring into the schools the destitute children of the city.” But, notwith¬ standing these favorable results of the efforts of the Public School Society, the Secretary of State informs the Legisla¬ ture, that the memorials referred to “ complain of the opera¬ tion of a system which, in fact, devolves upon any private corporation, the discharge of one of the most important func¬ tions of the government, without that responsibility to the peo¬ ple which is provided in all other cases. They allege,” he states, “ that, in its administration, the conscientious opinions and feelings of large classes of citizens are disregarded; that other schools, maintained for the same objects, and accom¬ plishing the same benevolent results, are arbitrarily excluded from a participation of a common fund, collected by the joint contributions of all ; and that a fearfully large portion of the indigent children are not reached, or in any way benefited, by the system of public education which now prevails.” Af¬ ter a long examination of the subject, he recommends, never¬ theless, the continuance of the very schools against which such grave objections are advanced, modifying their powers, however, in such wise as to impart to them the character of charity schools, in which no children are to be instructed gratuitously but those of parents whose poverty is proved in exemption of payment, and subjecting to charge the
Doc. No. 22.] 134
children of all whose means have exposed them to a double taxation for the support of the system, or who have too much self respect to claim the privilege of paupers. He proposes to engraft on the existing system, provisions intro¬ ducing the district plan, in operation in, the rest of the State, confining gratuitous instruction in the schools, as before men¬ tioned. These propositions are combined with some others, which will hereafter be adverted to, in referring to the bill introduced into the Senate, which we fear, if adopted, will connect the schools with the political struggles at the polls; contemplating, as they do, the creation of offices sufficiently lucrative to tempt the cupidity of the partizan, aud thus making institutions intended for the advancement of the young along the quiet paths of learning, the sport of party management, contention and triumph. Of the district sys¬ tem, it is here, perhaps, the proper place to say, seeing that the bill in the Senate does not adopt that part of the recom¬ mendation, that we believe it to be wholly unsuited to the city, whose population is frequently changing residence from one district to another ; and that schools teaching by dis¬ similar books, classes and modes of tuition, would be of at least doubtful advantage to the children of the city. Other objections to this plan exist which it is needless to enume¬ rate, when the fact is before our eyes, that the Commission¬ ers of Common Schools in Brooklyn, a city separated from our own only by the intervening river, and whose popula¬ tion more resembles ours in its composition and habits than any other in the state, have pronounced the district system to be inefficient and inapplicable there, and lament that they do not possess schools founded on the plan of those of the Public School Society of New York. Of 7,966 children re¬ siding in Brooklyn, between the ages of five and sixteen years, only 2,274 appear by the last schedules presented to the Legislature, to have attended these schools for any pe¬ riod ; being about in the ratio of twenty-three out of eighty. In Williamsburgh, an adjoining community on the same
J
135
[Doc. No. 22.
side of the river, where the district system also prevails, only 136 attended out of 943, being in the proportion of one out of seven.
Leaving, then, the further consideration of the results of the district system, which we deem to be virtually abandoned as respects this city, we advert to the objections alleged by the memorials of a portion of the religious sect to which we have before referred. We shall consider them in the order they have been mentioned.
The Catholic memorials complain, first, of the operation of the system which places the education of the youth of the city under the direction of the Public School Society, as “ de¬ volving upon a private corporation the discharge of one of the most important functions of the government, without that responsibility to the people which is provided in all other cases.”
Let us look into this allegation.
In the discussion regarding the Public School Society, it has been thought advisable, not only to denominate it a pri¬ vate corporation, but in some of the publications and speeches that have been made on the subject, it has been branded as a dose corporation. What attribute it has of a close corpo¬ ration, no scrutiny has enabled us to discover. That name can be strictly applied, only where the Trustees, or other Governors, constitute the whole corporation, and in case of vacancy in the Board supply the succession by their own votes. The freest definition could only extend it to institutions who are judges of their own members, and can admit to or exclude from their privileges, at the volition of the Corpora¬ tion itself. No such characteristic belongs to the Public School Society. How far it can justly be considered a pri¬ vate corporation, has been seen in the requisites to member¬ ship, to which we have adverted. Erected by a law of the State for the avowed attainment of a momentous public ob¬ ject, in the benefits of which every child of that public to
Doe. No. 22.]
136
which their sphere of action is confined may participate; open as to membership, to the whole public who choose to acquire the qualification prescribed by the Legislature of this State, as the only requisite to admission, and which depends alone on the act of the individual, without regard to any wish or objection on the part of the other members ; subject to the supervision of officers appointed by the representatives of the whole people of the city ; and submitting their ac¬ counts to the inspection and scrutiny of those representatives, and through the publications of the latter, of the whole people — -we apprehend that the Corporation has been denominated a private one without due reflection. It is not to be regarded in that light, but as the body of voters in the City of New York on whom the Legislature of the State representing the sovereignty of the whole people, have thought fit to devolve through their own enactments, and the powers they have conferred on tire Corporation of the City, the selection of the guardians and supervisors of public education within the city. The qualification to constitute a voter, is a single pay¬ ment of a small sum of money, which every man of correct habits may soon lay aside out of his earnings, if he feel any interest in the cause of education. The Legislature in 1826, when they changed the charity formerly called the Free School Society of New York, whose tuition was confined to the children of parents unable to pay for their education, into the Public School Society, for the purpose, as the statute expresses it, “ so far as their means may extend for the edu¬ cation of all children in the City of New York not otherwise provided for, whether such children be or be not the proper objects of, gratuitous education, and without regard to the re¬ ligious sect or denomination to which such children or their parents may belong,” evidently expected that the education of all the children in the City, whose parents did not prefer to send them to pay schools, would fall under the control of the Public School Society. They therefore defined by law, the qualification that would be required from any person de-
137
[Doc. No. 22.
sirous of being a voter at the election of Trustees of the Pub¬ lic Schools. Proceeding probably on the belief, that all men are not equally qualified by education and habit to judge of the necessary attainments for the beneficial discharge of a literary duty, they deemed some other qualification than mere residence necessary, and fixed upon one in the nature of a property qualification, which however temporary in its pos¬ session, would, it was supposed, be durable in its results. Each intended voter was required to make a single payment often dollars, for which the privilege sought was promised him for life. This qualification is somewhat analogous to that prescribed for voters at elections of Trustees of Common Schools in the other parts of the State, which is strictly a property qualification, though if not durable in its possession, is only temporary in its results — every person being subject to a fine of the very same sum of ten dollars, for voting at any annual election for Trustees of a Common School, un¬ less he be a freeholder, within the town where he votes; be assessed the same year in which he votes or the preceding year, to pay taxes in said town; or possess personal property liable to taxation, in the School District, of the value of fifty dollars, over and above the list of articles exempted from execution. Between the elective privilege in the city and the country, there will be seen this striking difference, that in the city, the individual who at any time possesses and pays over a ten dollar bill, which if of general circulation may pass hence in a few hours to PJattsburg or Buffalo, obtains a privilege, which whatever be his subsequent fortunes, always accompanies him, and is promised to con¬ tinue forever; but as regards the country resident, the pro¬ perty qualification is connected with local ownership, and must be continued in its possession ; for if, after having been the possessor of real or personal property, in his town or his school district, or paid taxes in his town, he becomes irre¬ trievably ruined, his privilege sinks with his fortunes, and is lost forever.
Doc. No. 22.]
138
That the society is a private corporation, cannot therefore* be successfully sustained. Equally untenable, in our opinion, is the allegation, that the function discharged by the society is performed “ without that responsibility to the people which is provided in all other cases.” The Trustees are placed under the direction of the representatives of the people, of the very community in which they perform their functions, who upon any unfaithfulness on the ptirt of the Trustees can deprive them, and their constituents, of the power conferred on them, and of the funds necessary for its execution. The society is compelled by the law of the State, to conform to any rules and restrictions in regard to the receipt of the pub¬ lic moneys, which the Corporation of the City may by ordi¬ nance prescribe ; and the ordinance, passed accordingly by the Corporation, subjects them to every rule and restriction that has been deemed proper to secure a strict supervision and accountability. The Commissioners of School Moneys, by whom the visitations to the schools are made on behalf of the community, are charged to report to the Common Council any failure or omission of the Trustees, in regard to the pub¬ lic moneys they receive, in regard to the admission of children to the schools, and to the proper weekly visitation and inspection on the part of the Trustees, of all the schools under their direction. The books of the schools, containing the memoranda of this performance, are at all times subject to the examination of the Commissioners, to whom the returns required by law are made under oath or affirmation. In ad¬ dition to these guards, the society is obliged to submit, in an annual report to the Superintendent of Common Schools ap¬ pointed by the State, and to the Common Council of the City, a particular account of the state of their schools, and of the moneys received and expended by them, which may be examined by any citizen disposed to investigate it.
These provisions, if in any manner they differ from those generally governing officers who perform important func¬ tions of the government, certainly secure in degree, as ample
139
[Doc. No. 22.
a responsibility to the people. The society has now exer¬ cised the powers confided to them for more than fifteen years, and in that whole period no valid impeachment has been pre¬ ferred of infidelity to their trust.
It may be added, in connection with this matter, that in all the plans which have been devised for the alteration of the present system, not a single provision has been suggested, that guarantees from the Public School Society, or the pro¬ posed additional schools, increased responsibility to the people.
The second charge assumes, that “ in the administration “ of the society, the conscientious opinions and feelings of “ large classes of citizens are disregarded ; and that other “ schools, maintained for the same objects, and accomplishing “ the same benevolent results, are arbitrarily excluded from “ a participation of a common fund collected by the joint “ contribution of all.”
General allegations like the aforegoing, give no definite conception of the matter of complaint, and present no tangi¬ ble point for examination. It were better always, and par¬ ticularly in cases affecting such momentous interests as are involved in the school question, that the griefs should be distinctly alleged, and specifications offered. It is, however, now generally understood, from newspaper publications of essays and speeches, that the violence imputed against con¬ scientious opinions and feelings, is to those of a part of the Catholic communion, who alone constitute the large classes of citizens alluded to; that the schools attached to their churches, governed by Trustees of their own appointment, conducted according to their precepts of religious faith, and ministering, as may well be inferred, to children only of their own denomination, are the schools said to be main¬ tained for the same objects, and accomplishing the same benevolent results, as those of the Public School Society; and that the arbitrary exclusion from a participation in the common fund, collected by the joint contribution of
Doc. No. 22.]
140
all, which is complained of, is the refusal by the immediate representatives of the people of this city, to devote a portion of the public moneys towards the support of schools, erected and governed by the Catholic denomination, and inculcating their distinguishing forms and' creeds.
That the objects and results of institutions, founded and acting upon principles so widely different as those which distinguish the schools of the sect and of the society, cannot be very similar, is too apparent to need illustration : and if the disregard of the conscientious opinions and feelings of large classes of citizens in the administration of the society, consists, as is inferred, in maintaining a perfect impartiality towards the several religious denominations in the schools, not giving reasonable offence, nor yielding submission, to any, the society has done no more than to be faithful to the purposes for which it was created. The motive to its incor¬ poration is stated in the Charter, to be the education of all children, whether or not they be proper objects of gratuitous education, and without regard to the religious sect or de¬ nomination to which their parents belong : and it would have been a plain infraction of their duty, to fashion the exercises of the schools according to the requirements of any particular church.
The allegation remains, that the sect is arbitrarily ex¬ cluded from a participation of a common fund, collected by the joint contribution of all.
In adopting a system of general education at the public expense, the object of the State was to give to its youth such an education as would fit them to discharge the civil obligations of this life, leaving it to their natural and eccle¬ siastical guardians, to prepare them, through a parental and spiritual ministry, to render their account in another world. There ought to be, and there must be, some common plat¬ form on which all the children may obtain their secular edu¬ cation, who are destined to act as citizens of the same re¬ public. To that general training, all the children are enti-
141
[Doc. No. 22.
tied : but it is the public who are to determine on its par¬ ticulars and conditions, and not the parents who may claim it for their offspring. That a fund has been raised by the taxation of all, for general education, creates no right in the tax paying sectarian to demand that any portion of it be appropriated to the spread of his particular creed. The tax was imposed on him as a citizen , not as the member of a church. Its object was to provide for a civil purpose exclu¬ sively, not to prepare the path to any designated place of worship. The erection of a church school announces a sectarian object. It has its exclusive rules of system and government ; is superintended by Trustees and teachers of a particular faith; religious conformity is indispensable to a participation in its direction, which is not, and cannot, be attained by means of a civil qualification that any citizen may acquire. It is, in truth, a part of the church establish¬ ment, and the sectarian of another denomination justly feels, that his privileges are equally violated, whether he be taxed for the support of its religious teacher at the school desk, or for that of its religious teacher in the pulpit. This State has never yet asserted the power to tax its people for eccle¬ siastical objects: and if its sovereignty comprehends such a power, the rights of conscience require, that the religion of the tax payer be recorded on the assessment roll, and his contribu¬ tion be dealt to the encouragement of his own communion.
An obstacle arises, perhaps, out of the provisions of our Constitution, to the establishment and conduct of a secta¬ rian school, as a part of the public system, which would be insuperable to some of the claims which have been brought before the public. If the religion of the sect be a necessary part of the education of the children, the choice of a teacher, adequate to the accomplishment of that object, would seem to be indispensable. Such a teacher would probably be found only in the person of one of the Ministers of the religion which the school is to inculcate. If the school which is committed to his direction, be adopted as a 4
Doc. No. 22.]
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part of the public system, his office thereafter assumes- a civil character ; his salary is paid by the whole public, out of the proceeds of a general tax. The question immediately" arises, whether this would not be inconsistent with the clause of the Constitution which declares, that “ no Minister of the “ Gospel, or Priest of any denomination whatsoever, shall at “ any time, under any pretence or description whatever, be “ eligible to, or capable of holding any civil or military office f “ or place , within this State.”
The Commissioners would suggest, that any difficulties in regard to the religious education of the children, which may be desirable, can be accomplished without a violation of the principles, or a departure from the objects of the school sys¬ tem, by an application of the rule said to prevail in Holland in regard to the schools controlled by the government. A time is there set apart, when the children of the respective denominations are requested to repair to the appropriate places for their peculiar worship, where they are attended by the proper ministers to their spiritual wants. If the Sabbath, and the other day in the week, on whieh the public schools are closed, be insufficient for this purpose, some additional portion of the week might be dedicated to it. The arrange¬ ment would certainly throw an additional burden on the clergy, without additional pecuniary recompense, but their commendable sense of duty in their sacred office, would no doubt disregard any considerations of that sort.
The remaining allegation is, that “ a fearfully large portion of the indigent children are not reached, or in any way benefited,” by the system of education that now prevails in this city. Fortunately, this is a subject that can be brought to the test of mathematical calculation, by which the figures will show, that the system of education in this city, reaches and benefits the indigent poor, far more efficaciously than the system that prevails in the residue of the State.
In order to prove the destitution of the inhabitants of the city, in respect to education, the Secretary of State reports to
143
[Doc. No. 22.
the Legislature, that the whole number of white children in New York, in 1840, “ the year in which the last census of the United States was taken, was 62,952, and that 30,758 only .are returned as attending some school, leaving 32,194 who were not in attendance on any school whatever.” Of the accuracy of the number of attendances thus returned, from the city, doubts have been well entertained, but we shall assume that the aggregate is correct. The inference that all would draw from the manner in which the case is stated, and the argument deduced by the Secretary, is that a fraction more than one-half of the children of the city are trained up in utter ignorance. “ With all the commendable and vigorons efforts of the Trustees of the Public School Society,” he says, “ it cannot be denied that less than one- half the children between four and sixteen years of age in the City of New York are receiving the benefits of any education whatever.” A moment’s reflection will correct this error. The schools of the society receive all children be¬ tween four and sixteen years of age; let us say, however, in order to make our estimate tally with the figures of the Secretary, between five and sixteen years. At any time within the portion of their lives embracing eleven years then, they have access to the schools, and in these there is con¬ tinual change, some retiring and new scholars succeeding. Now if one-half of this class of population, rejecting frac¬ tions, is on the average kept at school, it is evident that on the average, each child would receive five and an half years of tuition, which in the New York schools, deducting va¬ cations, amounts to somewhat more than sixty months, or five full and complete years without deduction. In imposing on masters the obligation to teach certain children to read and write, the law of the State gives him the alternative of furnishing two years education as being sufficient for the purpose, and that too, while by another law the common schools of the country are not required to be open more than four months in the year to entitle them to tjie benefits
Doe. No. 22.]
144
of the school fund. If eight months, or even twenty-four months tuition, in such schools as the inhabitants are obliged to accept in some parts of the State, be recognized by the State as enough to qualify a child to read and write, «ixty months tuition, in the schools of the New York Public School Society, would not be likely to consign him to hope¬ less mental destitution. A far less period of education in their youth, and that in many cases of an inferior sort, is all that was enjoyed by many of the men who have illus¬ trated the character of our country, in the literary and phi¬ losophical world. Doctor Franklin seems, from his auto¬ biography, to have been finally taken from school at the age of ten years, to perform the humblest offices in his fa¬ ther’s business of a tallow chandler and soap boiler, having “ failed entirely in arithmetic,” though he had “learned to write a good hand,” and gained instruction in some other branches.
“ A comparison of the results obtained from statistical returns,” says the Secretary of State, “ between the num¬ bers educated in New York and those instructed in other parts of the State, will exhibit, in a more striking manner, the lamentable deficiency of the former. It appears,” he proceeds, “ from the report of the Superintendent before re¬ ferred to, that while there are 592,000 children, out of the City of New York, between the ages of five and sixteen, there are 549,000 attending the common schools. In the City of New York,” he adds, “the proportions were as above stated, 62,952 children between the same ages, and 30,758 attending all the schools, public as well as private.” In another place he states, “that while the Public School Society has registered on its books the names of children who have entered the schools to the number of 22,955, the average actual attendance of pupils amounts only to 13,189.”
It was certainly not the intention of the Secretary of State to do injustice to the city, in the comparison thus drawn.
145
[Doc. No. 22.
In making it, however, he seems to have forgotten that the returns from the common schools, and the public schools, differ altogether in their ingredients, and furnish no proper materials for a comparative estimate in regard to them. In the returns of the common schools, all the children who have attended, are indiscriminately numbered as instructed in the schools, whatever be the duration of their attendance, whether for a year, a week, or a day, and whatever be the amount of the tuition they receive. But a different mode of return is prescribed for the city as distinguished from the rest of the State. From the city it is required that there be two columns of returns, neither of which shows the whole number of children “ registered” on the books of the public schools, nor has that number accordingly ever been returned until the present year, when it is done as the voluntary act of the Commissioners of School Money, without requirement by law. It amounts this year to nearly 40,000, and could not have been in the year referred to by the Secretary, less than 38,000.
The returns demanded by law from the city, are, firstly, a return of the average quarterly attendance in the schools; the number to be ascertained, to follow the words of the sta¬ tute, “ by adding to the number of children on register at the “ commencement of each quarter, the number admitted dur- “ ing that quarter, and the total to be considered the average “ of that quarter .” Secondly, a return of the average num¬ ber that actually attended the school during the whole year , to be ascertained by the teachers keeping an account of the number of scholars present every half day, which being added together, and divided by 500, the number of half school days of which the year is arbitrarily declared to consist, is considered the average of attending scholars.
.That no just contrast can be drawn from numbers repre- presenting, as in the country returns, every child as an at¬ tending scholar who had visited the school but for a day, and the city returns whose highest numbers represent only
Doc.|No. 22.]
146
the average quarterly attendance, would not seem to require illustration. As however the comparison has- been made in a grave public document, let us examine practically its principles, and see how the returns to the Superintendent, from a public or city school, and from a common or country school, having an exactly equal number of scholars and at¬ tendances throughout the year, would exhibit each to the Legislature in the Superintendent’s report.
Suppose the year to begin with two hundred scholars; that the two hundred old scholars retire before the end of each quarter; that they are succeeded during the quarter by two hundred new scholars who had never before attended ; and that each quarter thus begins with two hundred scho¬ lars — what is the comparison they would present in the Su¬ perintendent’s report?
Let us first take the Public or City School.
The year begins with scholars . 200
New entries during first quarter . 200
Retirements during first quarter 200, leaving for
second quarter . 200
New entries during second quarter . 200
Retirements during second quarter 200, leaving for
third quarter . 200
New entries during third quarter . 200
Retirements during third quarter 200, leaving for
fourth quarter . 200
New entries during fourth quarter . 200
1600
This aggregate of sixteen hundred, being divided by four, gives the quotient for the quarterly average attendance, of four hundred; which is the largest number returned for the city school to the Superintendent of Common Schools.
Take next its twin brother the country school — what num-
147 [Doc. No. 22.
ber would it, under circumstances precisely similar, return to the Superintendent.
The year begins with scholars . 200
New scholars, first quarter . . . 200
“ “ second quarter . 200
“ “ third quarter . 200
*• “ • fourth quarter . 200
Number returned .... 1000
Thus two schools, not at all distinguishable in their re¬ spective numbers of scholars and attendances, would in the Superintendent’s report, exhibit an apparent superiority of one school over another, its exact equal in fact, in the ratio of five to two. (
Any comparison therefore between the quarterly attend¬ ances at the city school, and the attendances as we have ex¬ plained them at the country school, is evidently misplaced.
That between the average yearly attendances at the for¬ mer, and the attendances at the latter, is still more objection¬ able.
The attendances at the country school, of whatever dura¬ tion, would amount as we have before seen to one thousand, at which number they would be returned to the Superin¬ tendent, and be reported by him.
The average yearly attendances calculated as prescribed by law for the public school, would stand in its return, (judg¬ ing from the comparative returns of quarterly and yearly attendances to which the Secretary refers,) at two hundred and forty or nearly, at which number they would be reported by the Superintendent — thus exhibiting an apparent supe¬ riority of one school over another, its exact equal in fact, in the ratio of more than four to one.
The truth is, and justice to the city when such compari¬ sons are made requires perhaps it be spoken, that the pub-
Doc. No. 22]
148
lished returns to the Superintendent give no definite idea of the amount of public education in the State; being deficient in all particulars of the average quarterly or annual at¬ tendance of the pupils. They announce the whole number of children returned from each school district; the number that attended the school within the time it was open, and the length of the period it was open ; but they afford no means of judging, whether a majority or any other definite proportion, attended for more than a week or a day. Nor, apparently, is the number of children returned as having at some time been attending, to be depended upon. Owing to a loose, or an erroneous method, of making up the returns, the number of scholars attending the common schools, has been frequently exaggerated, beyond the number actually residing within the districts. It would be a matter for won¬ der, if the attendance of every child residing within the dis¬ tricts, could be obtained, even for a day, within the periods that the schools are open ; but a more extra¬ ordinary phenomenon was presented in the returns for a series of years, exhibiting as they did, the attendance of a much larger number of pupils, between the ages of five and sixteen years, than there were children in existence, between those ages in the whole State. We copy from the schedule F of the last annual report of the Superintendent of Common Schools, giving a “ comparative statement of the condition of the common schools from 1815 to 1840,” the numbers of children between said ages taught, and the num¬ ber of children between said ages residing, in all the districts of the State, for the years 1824 to 1829, both inclusive, and have added a column showing the excess of the scholars over the residents.
149
[Doc. No. 22.
No-ts^
1824 402,940 383,500
1825 425,586 395,586
1826 431,601 411,256
1827 441, S56 419,216
1828 468.205 449,113
1829 480,041_ 468,257'
19,440
30,000
20,345
22,640
19,092
11,784
Even from the returns for the year 1839, upon which the disparaging comparisons of the Secretary are founded, there appears to be in twenty-seven counties of the State an excess of more than twenty-five thousa d children, between the specified ages, taught in their common schools, over the num¬ ber of the same classes of children residing within those counties, as ascertained by the Trustees of the School Dis¬ tricts. The Superintendent of Common Schools supposes in his last report, that the returns from the schools, which give the attendances, are more to be relied upon, than the returns from the Trustees, of the number of children within the districts : but this idea derives no support from the cen¬ sus taken by the Marshal of the United States, in the year after, when an increase of the number of the children had taken place. The Marshal in 1840, finds an excess in those twenty-seven counties over the returns of the Trustees in 1839, of less than four thousand, leaving yet an erroneous excess in the returns of scholars attending, of more than twenty-one thousand. Other errors are detected, in the re¬ turns to the Superintendent. The returns from the Com¬ missioners of Common Schools make the aggregate number of children in 1839, in all the districts of the State, exclud¬ ing the City of New York, to be 592,564 being more by 14,560 than the whole number of children between five and sixteen years residing in the same parts of the State, in 1840,
5
Doc. No. 22.]
150
which by the Marshal’s returns are as ascertained
to be . 578,004
Difference . 14,560
The returns of the schools, exclusive of those of
New York, show scholars attending . 549,457
The Marshal returns, exclusive of New York. . . . 477,323
Difference . 72,134
This difference the Superintendent endeavors to reduce to 42,211, mainly, by deducting 26,869 scholars, returned by the Marshal in another column, as educated at the public charge. The latter number is, however, included in the number of 477,323, above mentioned, in the reports, both of the Superintendent and of the Secretary, it is so regarded when referring to New York, to which 10,213 of the 26,869 belong ; but are not credited, in either report, to the amount of education in the city.
It is unpleasant thus to dispel flattering illusions, by which we, in common with the rest of the State, had been misled, until we were impelled to investigate the subject; but it is manifest that mistakes have existed in the public documents relating to the common schools, which the interests, and per¬ haps the character, of the State, require should not hereafter occur.
Rejecting comparisons, then, drawn from returns to the Superintendent from the city and the country, having no similitude in their particulars, and widely differing in their accuracy, let us seek for better means to determine the truth. These will be found in additional returns by the Marshal, in the census before referred to, which state the number of white persons residing in the city and state, of and over the age of twenty years, who can neither read nor write. The
151
[Doc. No. 22.
common school system, and the public school system, have respectively been long enough in existence, to test the effi¬ cacy of each, upon the persons who, under like circum¬ stances, have actually come within the operation of each, and passed to the age last specified. From the census we find, that the whole white population of the State, excluding New York City, of the age of twenty years and upwards, is 990,792, and that the like population in the City of New York is 163,920. Thus New York, though possessing an aggregate population comparing with that of the rest of the State, excluding New York, in the ratio of little more than one to seven, has a relative white population, of and over the age of twenty years, of about one to six; or, in other words, it has an excess of more than 17,400 white persons, of the age of twenty years and upwards, over its due pro¬ portion, as compared with the aggregate population of the other counties. The number of whites, of the age of twenty and upwards, in the State, who can neither read nor write, is 43,706, of whom there are in New York 7,778, and in the rest of the State 35,927, showing an excess of 1,732 in¬ dividuals only, in. the city, out of a population of 312,932, over its due proportion in the comparison with the counties, if all other circumstances were exactly equal.
But it is to be recollected, that in every year an immense laboring population is arriving from abroad ; many of whom, wholly uninstructed, remain in the city, by reason of the labor to be obtained therein, and their capacity for its per¬ formance, whilst the mass of the more fortunate class go to the country. The wonder, therefore, is, that the excess be¬ fore mentioned, of 1,732 persons, is so small. The alien population constituted, in 1836, when the last State census was taken, somewhat more than one-fifth of the whole popu¬ lation of the city; and that of the rest of the counties some¬ what less than one-seventeenth of their whole population. The census taken by the Marshal, in 1840, does not furnish the alien population for the city, or for the State. If it has
Doc. No. 22]
152
kept pace with the ratio for 1835, the number of white aliens, of and over the age of twenty years, in the city, is about 32,500; being more than fourfold the number of the whites of the same age who cannot read or write; while the number of aliens in the counties, of and over the age of twenty years, is about 53,350; being less than one and an half times the number of whites of the same age who can¬ not read or write.
A large portion of the alien population in the city is poor, or on the verge of poverty, and may be presumed to com¬ prise much ignorance; brought up, as it has been, in coun¬ tries where the blessings of education are not diffused as in this. Some idea of the extent of the ignorance among adults, thus settled among us, may perhaps be gathered from the poverty which appears to exist in their families. A re¬ port of the former Secretary of State, (Mr. Dix,) shows that in the year ending the first December, 1838, a year when labor for the poor was very difficult to obtain, the whole number of foreigners relieved or supported by public cha¬ rity, in the State, was 64,570; of whom 59,522 were in the City of New York, and only 5,048 in the other counties. He adds, “ that in the County of New York foreigners ap- “ pear to constitute more than seventy-three per cent, of the “ whole number of persons relieved or supported, while in “ the other counties they constitute but little more than twenty “ per cent, of the whole number.”
These explanations fully account for the entire number of white persons in the city, over the age of twenty years, who cannot read nor write— even supposing that the Public School Society, and the pay schools, had hitherto in due time educated every individual between four and sixteen years, within our boundaries, during that interval, or any part of it. Connected with the returns of the Marshal, illustrating this matter, they show, contrary to the opinion which the Secretary has pronounced, that the Public School Society
I
153 [Doc. No. 22.
has “ accomplished the principal object of its organization, “ the education of the great body of the children of the “city.” Notwithstanding the very disproportionate influx of foreign population into this city, as compared with the rest of the State, the struggles of the society have kept down ignorance, to an extent which no system, less efficacious and liberal than its own, could have effected; and has enabled the city to make a positive comparison, waiving the conside¬ ration of its disadvantages, with many of the counties of the State, some of which are embraced among the twenty- seven which exhibit, in the Superintendent’s report, so flourishing a state of education within them.
Of the white persons, of and over the age of twenty years, who cannot read or write, there is, rejecting fractions :
In the City of New York, one out of every twenty-one.
County of Montgomery, one out of every twenty-one.
Rensselaer, one out of every twenty-one.
Wayne, one out of every twenty-two.
Steuben, one out of every twenty.
Delaware, one out of every twenty.
Columbia, one out of every twenty.
Essex, one out of every twenty.
Dutchess, one out of every fifteen.
Franklin, one out of every fourteen.
Fulton, one out of every fourteen.
Monroe, one out of every thirteen.
Chemung, one out of every twelve.
Sullivan, one out of every twelve.
Lewis, one out of every eleven.
Putnam, one out of every ten.
Tioga, one out of every nine.
Herkimer, one out of every eight.
Clinton, one out of every five.
We have thus sufficiently disposed of the charge, that “a “ fearfully large portion of the indigent children are not reach- “ ed> or in any way benefited,” by the system of education that
Doc. No. 22.]
154
now prevails in the city. The want of support for the charge will, however, become still more apparent from the comparisons that follow.
The number of paupers, “the indigent” emphatically, in the State, in 1840, as returned by the Secretary of State to the Legislature, is 56,561. Of this number 27,553 were in New York, and the residue, 29,008, in the Counties. Look¬ ing to the proportion which the population, of twenty years of age and upwards, in the city, and in the counties respec¬ tively, bears to the aggregate population of each, the paupers of the counties would comprise 13,579, of and over the age of twenty years, and the paupers of the city would comprise 14,432, of and over- that age; the larger number in the city arising from the fact before mentioned, of its having more than 17,400 persons, of twenty years and upwards, beyond its proportion, as compared with the aggregate population of the counties. The paupers, then, of the city, of and over the age of twenty years, bear the proportion to its inhabitants of like age, who cannot read or write, of 14,432 to 7,778; making the ratio of the paupers to the untaught, nearly two to one, and showing that almost one-half of the very indigent (throwing altogether' out of view the accession of untaught persons from abroad) have been “ reached or benefited” by the public schools : whilst, in the counties, the proportions would be 13,579, paupers to 35,927 untaught; showing that a number of persons equalling all the paupers, besides about one and two-thirds their number, from among those in better circumstances, had not been “ reached or benefited” by the common schools. In other words, the untaught in the city would be, in comparison with its poor, as little more than one to two ; while in the counties the untaught, in compari¬ son of their poor, would be more than five to two ; thus making a difference in favor of the city, as contrasted with the counties, upon a comparison of their poor and of their untaught respectively, in the ratio of about five to one.
There is no doubt, that a commendable anxiety to
155
[Doc. No. 22.
educate the poor, has fearfully exaggerated the number of those who in this city obtain no instruction. We had, in some degree, participated of this delusion. It is true, that idle children are found in various parts of the city, whose own perverseness, or whose unfeeling parents, prevent them at times from coming to school; but, although they may not attend this month, they find their way to school the next; and, the mode of tuition in all the schools being uniform, thus pick up, from month to month, the elements of learn¬ ing. An illustration of this is derived from the fact, that during the last year more than twenty-one thousand children retired from time to time from the public schools, their va¬ cant places being refilled by others. In no other way than we have suggested, can the results we have presented be ac¬ counted for. If no entreaties avail in attracting idle children to school, the poverty of their parents, or their own vicious course,- insures their destiny to the Poor House, or the House of Refuge; whose wholesome discipline imposes the necessity of attending to their books. As fast as the foreign population increases, their children are made the objects of our liberal system. Thus we believe, that the portion of the young who, in our city, grow up without education alto¬ gether, is very insignificant indeed.
In presenting the statistics contained in this report, some errors may possibly have occurred, drawn, as the materials have in part been, from various columns of the Marshal’s census, and the Superintendent’s report, and undergoing, as they necessarily have, after-processes of calculation. We have intended them, and believe them to be, wholly free from error, and therefore invite all just criticism. If any mistake has accidentally crept in, sure we are, that it is not of a character, or amount, that can affect substantially the general tenor of our statements and conclusions. In mak¬ ing the estimates we have used the Marshal’s returns as printed by order of our State Legislature, and have pursued the Superintendent’s method of ascertaining therefrom the
Doc. No. 22.]
156
number of children between the ages of fifteen and sixteen years.
Having thus examined the objections which have been advanced against the public school system, it may be proper to look into the bill reported to the Senate, proposing a sub¬ stitute. This bill, we understand, received the approbation of the remonstrants, (alluded to by the Secretary of State,) who sent numerous Committees from this city to the Legis¬ lature, to urge its adoption ; and the effort for its passage will probably be renewed at the next session. It may be assumed to have been prepared under the direction of the memorialists; nothing being more common than to intro¬ duce a bill into the Legislature, framed by the applicants, so that all their propositions may have a fair chance of due legislative discussion and inquiry. We shall therefore re¬ gard it as the bill of the remonstrants, and speak of its pro¬ visions accordingly. Never, probably, in the history of legislation, were the avowed objects of a bill more at vari¬ ance with its actual tendency than this.
The remonstrants profess, in substance, a desire that the people shall have a more direct control and administration of the public school system in this city ; and for this pur¬ pose they commence by taking from the Common Council, the immediate and comparatively numerous representatives of the people, and the guardians of their local interests and concerns, all connection with, or control over, the schools, whatsoever. In place of the Corporation, and the Commis¬ sioners of School Money chosen by them, the bill proposes to place the whole government of the system under seven¬ teen Commissioners of Common Schools, one to be elected by the qualified voters of each ward, at the charter election ; thus affording the desirable guarantee for a pure and effica¬ cious administration of the system, by connecting its desti¬ nies with the political contests of the wards ; with the ca¬ bals, intrigues, and bargainings of Committees, appointed, not at primary meetings of the people, but at partial and
15?
[Doc. No. 22.
interested meetings of partizans; and with the fierce strife of party animosity. In a spirit of hostility to close corpora¬ tions, and of any abatement of the people’s rights— the Com¬ missioners of Common Schools are erected, immediately up¬ on their election, into a close corporation, for their term of service; filling vacancies whenever they occur in their body, by the votes of the residue ; so that by possibility it might happen to become a Board, not one of the members of which had received the popular suffrage; and in no case would the inhabitants of the ward in which the vacancy occurred, have any voice, directly or indirectly, in the choice of its new Commissioner. Zealous, as the title of the bill purports, u to extend the benefits of common school education in the City of New York”— it banishes from the schools all the children, forming so numerous and interesting a class in the primary departments, between the ages of four and five years, by taking away from them all the benefits now en¬ joyed by them from the school moneys ; and it directs the appointment, by the Board of Commissioners, of a Superin¬ tendent and Clerk, (offices which would inevitably become political rewards,) who are to have the first lien on the school moneys, for the payment of their annual salaries, amounting to three thousand dollars : a sum equivalent to the average tuition in the public schools, of one thousand scholars, in¬ cluding the average expenses of teachers, school books, slates, pencils, writing books and pens, maps, school library furniture and room hire. Deprecating grants of power to any private corporation to disburse the public moneys, as wrong in princi¬ ple and an invasion of popular rights — it contains provisions, compulsory on the Commissioners and the Public, to admit any number of persons who may choose to associate for the pur¬ pose, and such others only as they in their pleasure may choose to adopt as their associates , to the privileges of a district school, and to a participation and expenditure of the school moneys ; upon the conditions that the associates will 6
Doc. No. 22.]
158
stipulate for the continuance of their school for at least one year : will make it appear that their school will promote the interests of education, and will not interfere with any school already established; and that the persons applying are able to maintain a respectable school for the instruction of children in the branches usually pursued in common schools. Ar¬ dent to impart the benefits of education to all — it prescribes no regulation under which all must be admitted, on equal terms, to the contemplated schools. Sensitive to the just rights of the tax payers in the city, whose contributions to the cause of education are comparatively nearly threefold those of the tax payers, for the same object, in the counties — the proposed system embraces enactments whose operation would probably drive their children from the schools; and at best would leave them but the gleanings, after the harvest had been reaped by those who pay no tax at all. Paying homage to the merits of the schools of the Public School Society, it adopts them as part of the system; but takes from them the means of sustaining their present character and usefulness, and divests them of two of their noblest distinc¬ tions — that which forbids the inquiry whether the parent can or cannot pay for the education of his child ; and that which, with a just regard to the principles regulating our political institutions, mingles the children of all , without reference to adventitious circumstances of fortune, in a com¬ petition for eminence : resembling the struggle in which they are destined to engage, upon terms of like equality, in their future character of men of the nation. Solicitous for the protection of religion — whilst it erects establishments that may be devoted-to sectarian objects, it also fashions schools in which infidelity may be taught, at the public expense. Pro¬ fessing to pay respect to the feelings inseparable from a due appreciation of the rights of freemen — it humbles the citizen to the proof of pecuniary destitution before he can obtain a gratuitous education .for his child ; and demands that the name of the latter be then enrolled as the recipient of pub-
159
[Doc. No. 22.
lie relief, on documents open to the inspection of every inquirer: thus carrying down the record of the receipt of public charity, as the accompanyment for life, of the youth who, under the existing system, obtains a good education, as a right, without disclosing the circumstances of the parent to any. Many of our mechanics, and other most useful population, whose struggles enable them to subsist their families, can ill afford the cost of the education of their children; but the just sensibilities belonging to freemen, would prompt the indignant refusal of any benefit to their offspring, to be obtained only upon such degrading condi¬ tions.
Other objections, not here necessary to enumerate, might be advanced against the project in question, or any other at all resembling it. The fact that a bill containing clauses so odious, might possibly have received legislative sanction, without being duly considered by the community on whom its injuries would most immediately fall, admonishes the ne¬ cessity, before the present system of education for the city shall be changed, of a reference to that community, of any proposed substitute, in order that they may pass upon it dis¬ tinctly, by the ballot box. Of the- vast benefits derived from the practical operation of the public schools in this city, there are not, that we are aware, any differences of opinion, among those who have visited them, and impartially exa¬ mined into their effect. Advantages of such magnitude, se¬ curing, as they do, results of incalculable consequence to the intelligence and morals of the city, should not be hazarded for the sake of untried or exploded systems, that, after inflicting their evils, will cause us to deplore the sacri¬ fice of an healthful state, which, if to be regained at all, will require many years for its restoration. Sensible of their duty to the public, the Commissioners have not felt at liberty to avoid that faithful exposition of their views which the occasion demands ; and they pray the Corporation of the City, and the Superintendent of Common Schools, and
Doc. No. 22.]
160
through them the Legislature of the State, to give such a cautious and deliberate consideration of the whole subject, as the immense interests involved, and any convictions here¬ in expressed, may respectively appear to deserve.
SAMUEL GILFORD, Jun,
George W. Strong,
Secretary ,
Chairman.
1
161
[Doc. No. 22.
SCHEDULE No. 1,
REFERRED TO IN THE AFOREGOING I
Sums deposited by the State.
From the revenue of the Common School Fund, and the income of the United States Deposite Fund .
Sums deposited by the Corporation of the City of New York.
Amount equivalent to the above
deposites of the State .
Amount of special tax. .$60,000 Less $500 expenses of Commissioners .... 500
$35,415 10
59,500 00
Total Deposites .
Balance left in Bank last year to the credit of the Commissioners .
Whole amount of Credits .
Amount distributed this year .
Balance in Bank of the State of New York to ) the credit of the Commissioners . v
$35,415 10
94,915 10
$130,330 20
7 62
$130,337 82 130,323 97
$13 85
REFERRED TO IN THE AFOREGOING
Doc. No. 22.] 162
|
•3*0 If Hi |
$120,271 38 1,371 20 1,525 46 959 84 591 33 668 46 985 53 2,391 03 831 29 222 82 505 63 |
| $130,323 97 |
|
Actual ave¬ rage No. In attendance |
(NOOOWCiMOONgqj NtOSH(OOONS®NlO T“H H T—t T-< <M |
1 15,936 |
|
Average No. attending du- whole year, according to Corporation |
•■^OG005oao»ocrsi~tgq> |
1 15,207 |
|
Average No. ofScholars|in attendance quarterly. |
-^t0G0(M^HfnC0C21>.O05 fflHHH CQ ^ CO (M |
1 25,163 |
|
Whole No. of Scholars laught within |
iflCONHOOHnWOlNtO cT 00 |
1 41,385 |
|
No. of T |
Ctt CM CM r— 1 1 r— iWMOlMr i(M © |
1 119 |
|
SOCIETIES^OR SCHOOLS. |
Public School Society of New York . New York Orphan Asylum . * . Catholic Orphan Asylum . Half Orphan Asylum . Mechanics’ School Society . . Yorkville Public School . Manhattan ville Free School . Hamilton School . • *>••*-•■ 7 A’ ' Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans |
N. B. The Public School Society taught in the schools appropriated to them 1,416 colored children— also, not above enumerated, 397 children under four years of age.
163
[Doc. No. 22.
DOCUMENT No. 23.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JULY 26, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in ac¬ cordance with an Ordnance to provide for the Accoun¬ tability of Executive Committees of the Common Coun¬ cil. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The report of the proceedings of the Croton Aqueduct Committee since the last regular meeting of the Board of Aldermen. The Committee met July 26th, 1841, present Aldermen Williams and Lee, Assistant Aldermen Brevoort and Ward.
The Aqueduct Commissioner presented the bills enume¬ rated in the following schedule; which, after examination, were audited and directed to be paid, all present voting in the affirmative.
Doc. No. 23.]
166
Voucher.
No. 236 Paylist 1st company of aqueduct
237 « “ 2d do. do. 238 82
238 “ “ 3d do. do. 288 44
239 “ “ 4th do. do. 255 88
240 « « 5th do. do. 241 41
- $1,559 97
241 Pay list for cartage of pipes . 922 50
242 Stephen Colwell, bill for pipe . 7,908 04
243 Chollar & Jones, do. . 3,557 68
244 David C. Wood, do. . 2,572 40
245 Ward, Stillman & Co. do. . 4,310 21
246 John Cumings, do. . 1,427 12
247 Joseph W. Brick, do. . 5,373 27
248 A. M. Jones & Brother, do . 235 41
249 James Robertson, bill for stopcocks, &c. 2,170 00
250 John J. Moffat, do. stopcock boxes 1,386 00
251 T. & G. Rowe, do. castings . 512 92
252 Moore &, Vanderbeck, bill for tools and
repairing do . •• . * . 267 56
253 Reuben Smith, bill for pine wood . 50 25
254 Samuel Lockwood, do. . 49 50
255 William Plumb, do. for sundry bills ... 191 53
256 John Cumings, bill for branches, &c. . . . 485 96
$32,980 32
257 Ellicott & Brothers, bill for pipe . 8,358 07
$41,338 39
RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, FREDERICK R. LEE, HENRY BREYOORT, DANIEL WARD.
DOCUMENT No. 24.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
AUGUST 2, 1841..
Report of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, to amend the ordinance in relation to the Fire Depart¬ ment, Concurred in.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Joint Committee on Fire and Water respectfully
REPORT :
That in the course of their examinations into the present situation of the Fire Department, they have become satis¬ fied that a large amount of money can be saved to the Com¬ mon Council, without any material inconvenience to the Department, by an alteration in the ordinance, by which the services of two individuals attached to each company, for the purpose of keeping the apparatus in good and complete order, and under pay by the Common Council, shall be dispensed with, and in lieu of whose salaries a small annual appropri-
Doc. No. 24.]
168
ation shall be made to said companies, to be expended by them for purposes connected with their implements.
In accordance with these views, the Committee has ad¬ dressed a circular, a copy of which is .hereunto annexed, to each of the said companies, requesting them to dispense with the services of such persons, from and after, the first, day of August instant, and which they presume has been generally done.
For the purpose of carrying out this object, it will be ne¬ cessary to amend the ordinance in relation to the Fire De¬ partment, and they therefore offer for adoption, the annexed ordinance.
Respectfully submitted.
C. B. TIMPSON,
A. HATFIELD,
MORRIS FRANKLIN, DANIEL WARD,
DANIEL D. BRIGGS,
WM. ADAMS,
Joint Committee on Fire and Water.
AN ORDINANCE
TO AMEND AN ORDINANCE IN RELATION TO FIRES AND THE FIRE DEPARTMENT.
[Passed April 23, ,1839.]
The Mayor , Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York , in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
1. That sections 34, 35, 36, 37 and 38, of Chapter XV. of the ordinance relative to the Fire Department, be, and the same are hereby repealed; and that the same take effect from and after the first day of August, 1841.
Passed the Board of Assistants, August 2, 1841.
Passed the Board of Aldermen, August 4, 1841.
Approved by the Mayor, August 6, 1841.
■U : a $VV
; vi;ii-oViw\ w»
,
imM ioJttf- ■ ,;J ? „i r JBdi-l)!:;; ; bul vd$K»u {»ik ~
A&bi .: tffiWmsbfA lo fnr,o# arfi bssufft
DOCUMENT No. 25.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 6, 1841.
Communication from the Superintendent of Streets , in relation to sweeping the streets. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Resolved , That the Superintendent of Streets report to this Board if a change can be made in the Department of Clean¬ ing Streets, whereby a saving could be made to the city. Also, that he report his plan of organization or re-organiza¬ tion of the Department to effect the same, and that he, the Superintendent, be requested to present his report at as early a date as possible.
By Edward S. Innes.
Resolved , That the Superintendent of Streets report to this Board what additional expense, if any, has been incurred and charged to his Department during the past year, in con-
Doc. No. 25.]
172
sequence of laying water pipes through the different streets ; and also communicate such suggestions as he deems expedi¬ ent relative to the subject.
By Elijah F. Purdy.
To the Hon. the Board of Aldermen: Gentlemen —
In obedience to the call of your Honorable Body, the Su¬ perintendent of Streets respectfully submits the following report in answer to the annexed resolutions :
Feeling very sensible of the importance of the subject referred to him for inquiry, not only as regards the expense, but the health, comfort, convenience and business of our fel¬ low citizens generally, the cleanliness of our public streets being so important to the health of the city, that it has engaged the earnest attention of the Common Council at different times, as to the most prudent and effectual method of clean¬ ing the same.
The streets have, in former years, been cleaned by con¬ tract, and not giving that satisfaction to the public that was anticipated from that system, it was abandoned, and they were afterwards cleaned by the inhabitants, each sweeping or hoeing before their own premises, and the Superintendent of Streets removing the dirt after it had been collected in heaps by them. This plan not keeping the streets in as clean a condition as was desirable, and in consequence of the cholera, in the year 1832, the present system was introduced, the Superintendent believes, in July of that year.
The expense of cleaning streets, over and above the re¬ ceipts, for the year 1831, amounted to the sum of $1452 32; in the year 1832, when the present system was introduced, and that for only six months of the year, the expense of the
173
[Doc. No. 25.
Department over its receipts reached the amount of $28,988 28
In the year 1833 they amounted to . 45,845 09
“ 1834 . . “ . 59,420 88
« 1835 . « . 77,966 30
“ 1836 « 137,649 04
“ 1837 “ 118,543 22
“ 1838 “ 99,709 49
“ 1839 “ 95,164 06
“ 1840 « 111,218 93
From the above, it would appear that the largest amount of expenditure occurred in the year 1836, when from the great fire and continued snow, it required a very heavy additional expenditure to keep the streets in a passable condition.
The expenses of cleaning the streets during the years 1837
and 1838 amounted to . . . $218,252 71
In 1839 and 1840, they amounted to . 206,382 90
Less during the last two years . . $11,869 81
In May, 1839, the Common Council passed an ordinance requiring the receiving basins of the sewers to be cleaned by this Department, thereby adding a heavy additional expense on this branch of the city service. From a calculation made by the Superintendent, together with the Street Inspectors, the additional expense of cleaning the receiving basins of all the sewers in the city, amounted to the sum of 10,000 dollars per annum, for the last two years. In the year 1839, there was an alarm of yellow fever, requiring an additional expense, which, together with the fire that occurred in June in Canal street, amounted to about $5,000, though that year it will be perceived is least in expense for the last five years.
The year 1840 it will be seen has increased in expense about $16,000 over the expenses of 1839, the main cause being the laying of water pipes and the increase of coal ashes.
The laying of pipe, while it has greatly enlarged the ex-
Doc. No. 25.]
174
pense of the Department, has, in a corresponding ratio, les¬ sened the receipts of the same, as it is necessary in order to secure the pavements in all streets through which the pipes are laid, to let the sand remain on the top of the trenches for twenty or thirty days : the consequence is, the rain's, and carts, and carriages keep working it over the streets and into the gutters, not only occasioning the loss of much valuable time, but also a total loss of the manure, as it requires some two or three months from the time the pipes are laid, before the sweepings are saleable.
The want of sufficient places of deposite for dirt and ruf- fage on the west and north-west section of the city is a very serious inconvenience fo the economical administration of the Department; at present there is no place of deposite for dirt and ruffage on the west side of the city, except between Washington and West streets, near the Battery.
The Superintendent will, of necessity, be compelled to employ vessels to carry the same away, unless your Honor¬ able Body should direct a bulkhead to be built on the North River, somewhere between Canal and Sixteenth streets, or adopt some other suitable remedy.
To cart the dirt of the Eighth, Ninth and Sixteenth wards to the Battery would involve an additional expense, as the difference would average near two miles, making about four miles travel with each load ; the owners of lots in that vicinity are suffering severely, and it is not unfrequently that the Inspectors have to remove in the morning what the private carts have deposited in the streets over night.
The late contract for laying ten miles of water pipe, being principally in that section of qur city, the most difficult at present to dispose of the surplus dirt and ruffage that will necessarily accrue in the completion of the work ; and as con¬ tractors do not generally find it to their convenience to take away any more than is specified in their contracts, it usually leaves a large surplus to be removed by this Department.'
The expense of cleaning up after the laying of water pipe
175 [Doc. No. 25.
has cost this Department from two hundred and fifty to three hundred dollars per mile.
If the contracts were so given out that the contractors were compelled to leave the streets in as good condition as when they commenced their labor, it would not only prove a great saving to the city in this Department, but would also be a source of gratification to the residents on the line of streets through which the pipes are laid.
The increase of coal ashes is becoming a very burthensome expense on the Department, having to remove from 2500 to 3000 loads per week, during five months of the year, and cart a part of the same near two miles.
If the ashes were screened they would furnish a large amount of fuel for the out-door poor of the city. From an experiment made in the winter of 1839 and 1840, as per di¬ rection of the Committee of Cleaning Streets, the Department was enabled to supply from fifteen to eighteen hundred poor families every other day with fuel, the expense of which the Superintendent is of opinion is not justly chargeable to the Department of Cleaning Streets.
From my experience in the Department of Cleaning Streets, I am of the opinion the present system is not free from objections, nor do I presume that I can devise one that will be acceptable in every particular. That the system of cleaning streets can be so amended as to ensure a saving of a large amount to the City Treasury, and a cleaner state of the streets, I have not a doubt.
The most formidable evil consists in the indiscriminate manner in which all kinds of vegetables, offal and garbage, coal ashes, shavings, dust, straw and building rubbish, the clean¬ ing of houses, cellars, vaults, &c. &c. are thrown into the streets: and it is no uncommon occurrence after a street has been thoroughly swept and cleaned, and the sweepers not fifty yards distant, for the inhabitants to immediately com¬ mence throwing all manner of filth and dirt into the streets • that often after the street has been swept, the Inspectors have to direct a cart back to take up what has been thrown
Doc. No. 25.]
176
out ; and it would appear as though sweeping the streets re¬ minded others to sweep their cellars and yards. From the large number of private collectors of garbage, it would ap¬ pear that there is little or no use, (except the cleaning the markets and limits thereof, together with the scraping it up out of the streets) to send the Corporation carts after it, as the garbage from the hotels, boarding houses, and large dwellings, is generally sold or given to private collectors; and when they fail to come after it, and it becomes so noxious that it cannot be retained longer on the premises, it is then given to the Corporation carts, or thrown into the streets, to the annoyance of passers by.
If the dirt carts were all licensed, their boxes made agree¬ able to law, it would prevent a vast quantity of dirt from falling in the street, which not only makes the street filthy but ruins the manure, and the load that would bring twenty- ‘five cents, has to be dumped at a longer distance of cartage for nothing.
If all the officers of the Corporation would readily enforce the ordinances in their respective departments, it would ma¬ terially lessen the expenses of this Department, and our streets, wharves and piers would present a degree of cleanli¬ ness not inferior to out sister cities of Boston and Philadel¬ phia.
The hawking and peddling of fish and vegetables through the streets, is also a fruitful source of filth, as all decayed fruit, corn husks, fish heads, &c. find a general receptacle in the streets, to the manifest benefit of the numerous herds of swine with which our city abounds.
It will be seen, by reference to the Corporation Ordinances, in the organization of the Department for Cleaning Streets, there are officers appointed whose whole time and attention are required, and on whom rests the responsibility of the cleanliness of the city.
In the above remarks the Superintendent has special re¬ ference to the manner in which the Street Inspectors are
177
[Doc. No. 25.
attached to the Department. It will be seen by reference to the law creating the Department and specifying the duty of the Inspectors, that they are required to act as Assistants to the Superintendent, and pay special attention to the demands of the Department in their respective wards.
In the multiplicity of other duties required of them they are unable to pay that strict attention to the duties in cleaning streets, that is necessary to the prompt removal of filth and other nuisances, and the consequence is an evident remiss¬ ness of duty on the part of many in the employ of the Department.
The Superintendent is of the opinion that their duties should be confined to the wants of the Department in their respective wards, or that they be .taken off altogether for other duties, such as enforcing the Corporation Ordinances, and assisting the Aldermen and Assistants in their many diver¬ sified duties ; or should there be one capable person appointed to act as foreman of each gang of cartmen and sweepers, whose whole time and attention would be with his men, with a deputy to assist the Superintendent, the streets would soon present a different appearance for cleanliness, and the ex¬ penses of the same be reduced. Or if the dirt was carted at per load out of each ward, it would ensure
activity among both sweepers and cartmen, and honest in¬ dustry would meet a just reward: and while the expense would be reduced, the streets would present a different ap¬ pearance for cleanliness, as interest has always proved a powerful stimulant to action.
While the Superintendent of Streets does not wish to be un¬ derstood as being opposed to cleaning the streets by contract should it be considered most advantageous, or less expensive, still he cannot withhold the expression of his opinion, that many objections and serious inconveniences would necessa¬ rily attend an entire change of the present system.
In order to give his views more explicit, he would make a quotation from Document No. 73—“ that while your Com-
Doc. No. 25.]
178
mittee in all instances guard with rigid care the-pubTic money, and strenuously urge and require the strictest econo¬ my in its expenditure, yet in relation to a subject of such vast importance as the present one, affecting in a measure the lives, the health, and the happiness of our fellow citizens, ex¬ pense may well be considered a secondary and incidental consideration.”
All of which is respectfully submitted.
WM. GAGE,
Superintendent of Streets.
DOCUMENT No. 26.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in favor of discontinuing the salaries of the Water Commis¬ sioners. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, to whom were referred the annexed preamble and resolution, in relation to the salaries of the Water Commissioners, respectfully
REPORT.
They have given to the subject that attention which its importance demands. The amount of money involved in the question is, by no means, so important as the principles con¬ nected with it. The Water Commissioners are appointed by the Governor and Senate of the State, not by the people of the city or their representatives in the Common Council.
Doc. No. 26.]
180
As the agents of the state authorities they may, with few re¬ strictions, expend large amounts of public money, with but little accountability to those upon whose property taxes here¬ after will be levied to meet the engagements and pay the debts which they have contracted, or in future may incur, independent of the people of the city and the Common Coun¬ cil; representing neither, and yet empowered to incur obli¬ gations binding upon them; expending as they annually do (by their own statement) in the payment of salaries (their own included) over 36,000 dollars.' It becomes a matter of great importance to the public whether an effort shall not be made to reduce those expenditures when the interests of the people do not require that they should be incurred.
If the public good demanded the continuance of the office of Water Commissioners, and their long train of subordinates, at the immense annual expense of 36,000 dollars, your Com¬ mittee would not propose the reduction of the expenditures ; but they are satisfied that at the present time no necessity ex¬ ists for the payment of so large an amount for salaries from the public treasury— the work being almost completed. At all events, it has progressed so far as to require no longer the supervision or visitation of the Commissioners. The nu¬ merous corps of engineers and their assistants, of inspectors, axe-men, &c., may be dispensed with to a very great extent.
There is but little to be done on the line of the aqueduct, and that little is confined to, partially one section of the aque¬ duct, the bridge over the Harlaem River, the completion of the reservoirs and works immediately connected therewith, and the repairs of the dam in the Croton River, destroyed by a freshet during the last spring. This being the case, so great a disparity existing between the present state of the work and its condition at the period of, and for a few years after its commencement, it certainly cannot be alleged that the same necessity exists now that existed then for the con¬ tinuance in office of so large a body of officers, attendants, &c.
To a correct understanding of the question, so far as re-
181
[Doc. No. 26.
lates to the necessity of a Board of Water Commissioners as supervisors of the work at the present time, it will be proper briefly to examine their duty as imposed by the several acts of the State Legislature, and the ordinances of the city.
Under the several acts authorizing the appointment of a Board of Water Commissioners, and the proceedings of the people and the Common Council of the City thereon, the Board were empowered to prepare and submit to the people and the Common Council for approval and ratification, a plan for the introduction of the water of the Croton River into the City of New York. They were also authorized to make contracts, binding upon the treasury of the city, for the pur¬ chase of the necessary lands and the construction of the aqueduct : to supervise the work, and do such other acts, within the letter and spirit of the Statutes of the State, and the Ordinances of the City, as might be necessary to the comple¬ tion of so great an undertaking.
This power was confined to the aqueduct from the Croton River to the distributing reservoir at Murray’s Hill. The Commissioners have thought that their power extended farther, even to the laying of the distributing pipes in the streets of the city. This view of the Commissioners was re¬ futed by the reports of Committees of both branches of the late Common Council, who contended that the powers of the Commissioners extended no farther than to the rights and du¬ ties therein before mentioned. The views of the Committees of the late Common Council were fully sustained by the Court of Chancery and the Legislature of the State ; the Court refer¬ red to, having determined, (through his Honor Judge Willard, who heard the argument upon the subject, in the place of the Chancellor,) that the powers of the Commissioners extend¬ ed no farther than the construction of the reservoir at Mur¬ ray’s Hill, and the Legislature having expressly sanctioned and adopted that view, in their late Act upon the subject, by which the whole control of the distribution of the water is conferred upon the Common Council. This is now the law
Doc. No. 26.]
182
of the land, and as such must, and undoubtedly will, be obeyed by all parties. This being undeniably the law, what¬ ever facts or circumstances go to prove the necessity of the farther services of the Water Commissioners can relate only to the construction of the aqueduct from the Croton River to the reservoir at Murray’s Hill. In this light your Com¬ mittee will consider the question.
The aqueduct is completed as herein before stated, for nearly its whole distance. Contracts have been made for the completion of every section. The plan is fully and definite¬ ly settled, not only by the Commissioners themselves, but by the people of the city, the Common Council, and the State Legislature. That plan must continue in force until altered by the proper authorities. The Commissioners cannot vary it. All that they can do is to pay the contractors, and if necessary, from time to time, examine the work, and report its condition to the Common Council.
The whole amount annually expended for salaries to, and under the Commissioners, is about $36,000. Your Commit¬ tee believe that this expenditure is, in a great degree, unneces¬ sary, and for the following reasons :
The work is nearly completed ; and notwithstanding the most difficult parts remain to be finished, yet for these parts the contracts have been made, and the work long since com¬ menced. All that remains to be done in regard to them is, that some officers should take care that the contracts are faithfully executed. This is within the peculiar province of the engineers. Possessing not only great theoretical know¬ ledge, but equally great practical experience in matters of that character, they are certainly more competent to guard the public interests, and secure perfection to the work, than a board of gentlemen who claim no more extended acquaint¬ ance with the subject of dams and bridges than belongs to almost every individual in the community. The supervision of these branches of the v/ork rests with the Engineer De¬ partment, and to them it properly belongs. They counsel
183
[Doc. No. 26.
the Commissioners, report the errors committed, and advise the improvements necessary to be made. It must be evident to all, that a corps of engineers, equal in talent and intelli¬ gence to that connected with the Croton Aqueduct, can never be in the knowledge of their profession and willing¬ ness to perform its duties, inferior in any respect, except that of station, to those who are nominally their superiors. Would it not be advisable then to commit all the unfinished portions of the work to the supervision of the engineers ? Your Committee think it would.
The views of the Committee in relation to the duties of the Water Commissioners, and the consequent necessity of the continuance of their Board, are fully sustained by the late Water Commissioners. In their supplemental report pre¬ sented to the Board of Aldermen, March 30th, 1840, speak¬ ing of the condition of the work, they use the following lan¬ guage : “ The state of the case then is, that the whole of the land required for the work is in peaceable possession, and the evidence of title, except in two instances, deposited with the Comptroller. The contracts for the whole work are made, and their performance sufficiently secured. The general plans, profiles, and working drafts are prepared. A large portion of the work is completed, and the remainder, except the bridge over Harlaem River, will be completed in 1841. The duties therefore of our successors must be materially lessened, as most of those yet to be performed will devolve on the Engineer Department , and nothing further can be required of the Commissioners, but a general supervision of the work as it progresses, except what may be the duty of their chairman in disbursing the sums due the contractors, and for their own incidental expenses, the salaries of engi¬ neers, and seeing that the accounts are regular and correct, and preparing the semi-annual reports to your Honorable Body.”
This was the language used by the late Commissioners to the Common Council, in March, 1840. It will be admitted
Doc. No. 26.]
184
by all that no person can be found in the City of New York more intimately acquainted with the then condition of the Croton Aqueduct than Stephen Allen and his associate Com¬ missioners. These gentlemen have placed their opinions upon record as above referred to, and one of those opinions is, that the duties principally to be performed in relation to the Croton Aqueduct, devolve upon the Engineer Depart¬ ment. If this be true, and your Committee can see no reason to doubt its correctness, why should the Common Council impose upon not only the present, but future generations, an unnecessary annual expenditure of $5,500, particularly at a period when retrenchment is emphatically called for by our constituents, in relation to every department of our munici¬ pal government?
The principal object in obtaining the passage of the Act of the State Legislature for the appointment of the Board of Water Commissioners, was to obviate the legal difficulties arising from the fact that almost all the land required for the pur¬ poses of the aqueduct were situated in another county, and without the jurisdiction of the Corporate Authorities of the City. It was found necessary to call in the aid of the State Authority, to be exercised by State Officers appointed by the constitutional power, the Governor and the Senate, and acting under the State Law. The land in Westchester County necessary for the construction of the work has been acquired and paid for, and the chief object of the appoint¬ ment of the Commissioners has been thus attained. It can¬ not be alleged that they have any duty to perform in this respect.
The resolution referred to your Committee proposes to dis¬ continue the payment of the salaries of the Water Commis¬ sioners. The Acts of the Legislature in relation to the Cro¬ ton Aqueduct do not require the payment of any compensa¬ tion to the Commissioners for their services. The whole matter rests in the discretion of the Common Council. How that discretion should be exercised is the question now sub-
185
[Doc. No. 26.
mitted to the Board. As the representatives of the people of this city we are certainly bound to watch with jealous care the public expenditures, to retrench where retrenchment is needed, to reform where reformation is called for by the pub¬ lic wants. Your Committee do not propose to abolish the office of Water Commissioners. That the Common Council, cannot do. The undersigned only advise that the Common Council in the exercise of the powers belonging to them, discontinue payments from the Treasury which are not called for by the wants of the public.
They therefore recommend the adoption of the following resolution as a substitute for the preamble and resolution hereto annexed and referred to your Committee :
Resolved , That section 10 of title ii. of chapter 18 of the Revised Ordinances, and such other parts of the said Ordi¬ nances as provide for the payment of salaries to the Water Commissioners for their services, be, and the same are hereby repealed.
MOSES G. LEONARD,
F. R. LEE,
Committee on the Croton Aqueduct.
L
QUARTERLY REPORT
IN RELATION TO THE
ACCOUNTS or THE CITY CHAMBERLAIN,
WITH
Schedules of the Receipts and Disbursements to August 1, 1841.
DOCUMENT No. 27.
PRINTERS.
■
'
DOCUMENT No. 27.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Quarterly Report of the Comptroller , in relation to the accounts of the Chamberlain , with Schedules of the Re¬ ceipts and Disbursements , to August 1, 1841. Ordered on file and to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, l September 6th, 1841. )
To the Honorable the Common Council :
I have the honor to submit the certificate of the Cashier of the Bank of the State of New York, showing the balances standing to the credit of the City Chamberlain in that insti¬ tution, on the 1st of August last, together with the account current of the Chamberlain.
These accounts have been examined and compared with the vouchers in this office and found correct.
The balance on that day in the general fund was three hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and ninety-two
Dog. No. 27.]
' 190
dollars and fifty-seven cents. The uninvested balance in the Sinking Fund, was one hundred and twenty-four thousand one hundred and fifteen dollars and twenty-seven cents, and the amount belonging to the fund for “ Interest on the Fire Loan,” was thirty-six thousand three hundred and eighty- five dollars and forty-two cents.
I have appended a statement of the amounts borrowed on account of the Temporary Water Loan, up to the first day of August, being the first month of its issue, by which it will be seen that the sum of six hundred and fourteen thousand two hundred and thirty-one dollars was borrowed on that account. It was issued at par, bearing interest at six per cent, per annum.
I have also appended Schedules showing all the receipts and disbursements of the Corporation, from the first day of January to August, and the same with respect to the Sinking Fund, with a table exhibiting the balances of appropriations unexpended.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller .
191
[Doc. No. 27.
Bank op the State op New York, ) July 31 st, 1841. \
I hereby certify that after the close . of business this day, the following balances were standing to the credit of the fol¬ lowing accounts on the books of this bank, viz : To the credit of the “ City Treasurer” three hundred and fifteen thousand one hundred and ninety -two 57-100 dollars: to the credit of the “ Commissioners of the Sinking Fund” one hundred and twenty-four thousand one hundred and fifteen 27-100 dollars, and to the credit of “ Interest on Fire Loan belong¬ ing to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund” thirty-six thousand three hundred and eighty five 42-100 dollars.
R. WITHERS, Cashier.
A true copy.
W. H. Dikeman.
J
193
[Doc. No. 27.
AMOUNTS BORROWED
On the Temporary Water Loan , from the 29th day of June to the 31s£ of July inclusive.
|
June 29 . . |
|
|
“ 30 . |
. 109,000 |
|
July 1 . |
. 9,500 |
|
“ 2 . |
. 2,800 |
|
“ 3 . . |
. 4,000 |
|
“ 6 . |
. 7,440 |
|
« 7 . |
. 16,650 |
|
“ 8 . |
. 5,800- |
|
“ 9 . |
. . 23,450 |
|
“ 10 ..... . |
|
|
“ 12 . |
|
|
« 13 . |
|
|
“ 14 . |
|
|
« 15 . |
. 7,900 |
|
« 16 . |
. 6,760 |
|
« 17 . |
. 12,930 |
|
“ 19 . . |
|
|
“ 20 - - |
. 11,600 |
|
« 21 . |
. 5,950 |
|
“ 22 . . |
|
|
« 23 . |
|
|
« 24 . . |
|
|
“ 26 . |
. 2,700 |
|
“ 27 . . |
. 118,760 |
|
« 28 . |
. . 91,000 |
|
« 29 . . |
. 18,025 |
|
“ 30 . . |
. 10,585 |
|
« 31 . |
$614,231
Doc, No. 27.]
194
RECEIPTS,
From January 1st to August 1st, 1841. Treasury Account.
1841.
Aug. 1. Balance in the Treasury Jan. 1, 1841 $ 174,179 08
“ Tax of 1840 . 1,148,698 31
“ Alms House . 12,255 50
“ Arrears of Taxes . 40,245 33
“ Interest on Arrears of Taxes . 12,478 98
“ Bonds Payable . 575,500 00
“ Assessment Fund . 94,670 08
“ Assessment Fund Interest . 6,453 21
“ Bonds and Mortgages . 9,450 00
“ Interest on Bonds and Mortgages . . 110 25
“ Commutation of Alien Passengers . . 4,733 50
“ Courts . 1,665 90
16 Cleaning Streets . 19,803 49
“ Commutation of Tax . 139 56
“ Charges on Arrears of Assessments 44 75
“ Cleaning Docks and Slips . 950 62
“ Docks and Slips . 145 95
“ Fencing Lots . , . 2,196 91
“ Fire Loan Expenses . . 1,599 39
Amount carried forward . $2,105,320 81
195 [Doc. No. 27.
Amount brought forward . $2,105,320 81
1841.
Aug. 1. Justices’ Courts. . . 4,186 18
“ Fire Indemnity. Stock . . . 56,000 00
“ Temporary Water Loan . 614,231 00
“ Interest on Taxes . . 1,052 15
“ Interest on Liens on Lots . 374 85
“ Interest on Streets Opening . 534 43
“ Interest bn Streets. Paving _ ... 1,809 43
“ Interest on Fencing Lots . 44 53
“ Interest on Wells and Pumps . 43 83
“ Interest on Docks and Slips . . 11 18
“ Interestto antedate Corporation Bonds 136 75
“ Liens on Lots . 2,147 35
“ Mayoralty Fees . 756 00
“ Police . 2,801 43
“ Penalties . . 420 44
“ Repairs and Supplies . 830 00
“ Real Estate . . . . . . 11,562 50
“ Streets Paving . . . 38,959 64
“ Streets Opening . 135 75
“ Vendue Sales . . . . 7,500 00
“ Ground Rent . 11,552 87
“ House Rent . 2,721 62
“ Common Land Rent . 140 00
“ Ferry Rent . 7,219 13
“ Dock and Slip Rent . 41,830 25
“ Water Lot Rent . . 1,932 70
“ Tavern and Excise Licenses . 27,500 00
“ Wells and Pumps . . 2,305 26
“ Water Pipes . . . 318 31
“ Water Stock . 608,071 47
Amount to August 1, 1841 .... $3,552,449 86 September 8, 1841.
W. H. D.
2
Doc. No. 27.]
196
Summary.
Loans .
Assessments .
On account of Corporation Property
Departments .
Rents .
Tax .
Miscellaneous - s. .
Total Receipts .
Balance June 1, 1841 .
81, 853, 802 47 150,287 77 21,012 50 42,616 81 65,396 57 1,202,615 33 42,000 33
$3,378,270 78 174,179 08
$3,552,449 86
TREASURER’S ACCOUNT.
CITY EXPENDITURES.
Disbursements from January ls£ to August ls£, 1841.
Jg^J Appropriation. Expenditure.
Aug. 1. Alms House . $250,000$160,497 69
Board of Health . 5,500 3,413 28
County contingencies . 34,600 26,523 74
Courts . 40,000 22,731 05
Coroner’s fees . 5,000 3,411 48
Charities . . . 8,000 4,071 20
Cleaning Streets . 141,500 96,633 38
Commutation of Alien Pas’ng’rs 100 50 00
Charges on Arrears of Taxes . . 500 219 00
Cleaning Docks and Slips .... 10,000 5,854 57
Docks and Slips Repairing ( ) islooo 35,645 31
Elections . 60,000 30,162 09
Errors and Delinquencies . 500 414 28
Fire Department . 55,000 40,166 91
House of Refuge . 4,000 4,000 00
Intestate Estates . 1,800 762 27
Justices’ Courts . 15,000 7,400 00
Interest on Ingraham’s Bond and \ 1
Awards . J 2,048 16
“ on Building Stock .... / 12.875 00
“ on City Stock . I 12,500 00
“ on Bonds Payable .... / 150,000 22,154 62
“ on Fire Indemnity stock( 6,213 12
“ on Floating Debt Stock \ 7,306 46
“ on Assessment Bonds . . J 594 52
Amount carried forward $505,648 13
Doc. No. 27.]
198
Appropriation, Expenditure.
|
Amount brought forward . |
$505,648 |
13 |
|
|
Lunatic Asylum . |
.$30,000 |
360 |
00 |
|
Lands and Places . |
. 10,000 |
8,210 |
44 |
|
Lamps and Gas . |
.120,000 |
73,133 |
61 |
|
Levying: Tax . |
. 15,000 |
847 |
50 |
|
Markets . |
. 14,500 |
7,667 |
18 |
|
Public Reservoir . |
. 6,000 |
3,892 |
32 |
|
Public Schools . . |
. 98,450 |
98,022 |
72 |
|
Penalties . |
. . 3,000 |
1,500 |
00 |
|
Printing and Stationery . |
. 20,000 |
12,030 |
82 |
|
Police . . . |
37,500 |
22,789 |
05 |
|
Real Estate Assessments . |
.. 15,000 |
13,403 |
25 |
|
Roads and Avenues . . |
.. 35,000 |
13,842 |
12 |
|
Repairs and Supplies . . |
.. 28,000 |
21,650 |
06 |
|
Salaries . |
.. 60,000 |
30,072 |
78 |
|
Street Expenses . |
. . 40,000 |
11,037 |
63 |
|
Tavern and Excise Licenses . |
. . 1,200 |
540 |
00 |
|
Watch . . |
..234,000 |
134,286 |
98 |
|
Wells and Pumps . . |
519 |
60 |
|959,454 19
September 8th , 1841.
199
[Doc. No. 27.
TREASURY ACCOUNT.
TRUST EXPENDITURES.
Disbursements from January 8 th to August 1, 1841.
|
1841. |
Appropriation |
.Expenditure. |
|
Aug. 1. Bonds Payable . |
$ 630,000 $ |
629,500 00 |
|
Charges on Arrears of Assessments |
10,000 |
2,403 08 |
|
Cleaning Docks and Slips . |
15,000 |
179 89 |
|
Docks and Slips . |
1,149 37 |
|
|
Floating Debt . |
50,000. |
50,000 00 |
|
Fencing Lots . |
10,000 |
1,585 32 |
|
Fire Loan Expenses . |
6 00 |
|
|
Fire Indemnity Fund . |
56,680 13 |
|
|
Interest on Bonds Payable . |
21,980 00 |
|
|
Interest on Streets Pavirjg . |
12,000 |
4,456 04 |
|
Interest on W ells and Pumps .... |
500 |
16 13 |
|
Interest on Assessment Bonds .... |
10,571 98 |
|
|
Liens on Lots . |
4,000 |
2,818 90 |
|
Penalties . |
25 00 |
|
|
Streets Opening . |
130,000 |
84,147 71 |
|
Streets Paving . |
160,000 |
46,599 13 |
|
Wells and Pumps . |
6,000 |
951 02 |
|
Water Commissioners . |
2,000,000 |
717,855 72 |
|
Water Pipes . |
500,000 |
313,305 45 |
|
Water Loan, Interest . |
500,000 |
196,259 27 |
|
Water Loan, Expenses . |
60 00 |
|
|
Assessment Fund . |
400,000 |
150,000 00 |
|
$2,290,550 14 |
Doc. No. 27.]
200
STATEMENT
OF RECEIPTS AND DISBURSEMENTS OF THE
COMMISSIONERS OF THE SINKING FUND.
Balance to the Credit of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, January 1, 1841 .. $ 13,398 58
Particular Receipts to August 1, 1841, viz :
From Market Cellars . . 5,055 52
Market Fees . 12,038 86
Water Lot Rent . . . 116 62
Commutation of Water Lot Quit-
rent . 4,431 00
Interest on City Stock ......... 2,280 00
Interest on Fire Indemnity Stock 308 12
Interest on Water Stock . 5,849 44
Interest on Public Building Stock 375 00
Interest on Floating Debt Stock . . 4,533 65
Interest on Fire Loan Stock .... 599 11
Hack Licenses . . . 937 00 (
Junkshop Licenses . . . 980 00
Intelligence Office Licenses . 325 00
Pawnbrokers’ Licenses . 1,905 00
Stage Licenses . 70 00
Street Vaults . 1,500 37
Fire Loan Mortgages . . 216,600 00
Commutation of Common Land
Rent . 120 00
Real Estate . 5,692 00
Floating Debt Stock . 50,000 00
- $327,115 27
Particular Payments to August 1, 1841 : —
For Fire Indemnity Stock (March 13) $ 56,000 00
Water Loan Stock (April 3) - 77,000 00
Water Loan Stock (May 11). . . . 70,000 00
- 203,000 00
Balance uninvested August 1, 1841 . $124,115 27
W. H. D.
201
[Doc. No. 27.
UNEXPENDED BALANCES.
Alms House, unexpended balance to Sept. 6, 1841 $49,502 31
Board of Health . 1,538 97
Charges on Arrears of Taxes . 10,273 50
Charities . 3,853 80
Cleaning Docks and Slips . . 3,139 92
Cleaning Streets . 16,571 13
Commutation Alien Passengers . 50 00
Contingencies . 319 52
Coroner’s Fees . 1,588 52
Courts . 8,632 86
Docks and Slips . 22,744 77
Elections . 3,047 00
Registration of Voters . . 26,772 35
Errors and Delinquencies . 85 72
Fire Department . 7,549 84
Interest .
Intestate Estates . 363 62
Interest on Streets Opening .
Interest on Streets Regulating and Paving ....
Justices’ Courts . 4,000 00
Lands and Places . 824 56
Lamps and Gas . 35,640 12
Levying Tax . 14,023 00
Lunatic Asylum . 29,640 00
Markets . 5,123 22
Mayoralty Fees . 37 00
Real Estate Assessments . 3,868 71
Penalties . 725 00
Police . 6,833 82
Printing and Stationery . 5,914 05
Public Reservoir . 1 ,247 33
Public Schools . 662 40
Doc. No. 27.] 202
Expenses School Commissioners . $ 264 88
Repairs and Supplies . 1,432 71
Roads and avenues, unexpended balances .... 20,921 47
Salaries . 17,440 54
Street Expenses . . . 25,962 37
Tavern and Excise Licenses . 660 00
Watch . 73,729 24
DOCUMENT No. 28.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in accor¬ dance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accounta¬ bility of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in accordance with the Ordinance for the Accountability of Executive Committees, respectfully
REPORT :
That since the last meeting of the Board in July, they have passed the following bills and made the annexed con¬ tracts, all of which is respectfully submitted.
204
Doc. No. 28.]
1841.
Aug. 5. Workmen’s wages . . . $ 1,620 28
Cartage of pipes . 839 38
S. Colwell, for pipes . 4,192 40
A. & M. Jones, for pipes . 2,216 44
J. W. Brick, for pipes . 2,386 61
Ward, Stillman & Co., for pipes . 3,612 82
Merrick & Town, for pipes . 7,432 00
Blair & Q,uin, digging trenches . 2,339 16
James Robertson, stopcocks . . 1,812 00
T. & G. Rowe, castings . 569 78
E. Brown, surveying instruments . 144 00
W. Plumb, sundry expenses . 282 76
J. C. Robertson, tools . 100 42
F. R. Lee, tools . 48 35
D. Felt & Co., stationery . . . 49 01
S. Lockwood, pine wood . 31 50
$27,675 91
Ellicott & Brothers, for pipes, payable in five per cent. Water Stock . $ 4,014 86
Aug. 19. Workmen’s wages . 1,653 56
Cartage of pipes . 557 38
Merrick & Town, pipes . 11,532 82
A. M. Jones & Brothers, pipes . 1,818 60
Ward, Stillman & Co., pipes . 1,602 65
Joseph W. Brick, pipes . 2,113 49
David C. Wood, pipes . 2,277 62
Winterton & Myer, pipes . 2,097 36
James Robertson, stopcocks . 1,680 00
T. & G. Rowe, castings . 792 97
Samuel Lockwood, wood . 30 00
Amount carried forward
205
[Doc. No. 28.
1841. Amount brought forward . $26,156 45
Aug. 19. Blair 6c Quin, digging trenches . 2,382 83
Choller 6c Jones, pipes . 5,425 98
William Plumb, sundry bills . 38_ 88
$34,004 14
A contract was directed to be made with Patrick McCaf- ferty, for excavating and paving for 8f miles of 6-inch pipe, at $560 per mile; and If miles 12-inch pipe, at $600 per mile.
A contract has also been directed to be made with Joseph W. Brick, for 1,000 12-inch,dry sand pipes, at $1 69 per foot.
1841.
Sept. 2. Workmens’ wages . $1,557 05
Cartage of pipes . 672 00
Cjiollar 6c Jones, pipes . 3,444 66
Ward, Stillman 6c Co., pipes . 1,620 44
Joseph W. Brick, pipes . 2,031 92
S. Colwell, pipes . 9,039 36
I. Cummings, pipes . 2,165 24
H. V. B. Barker, excavating . 1,119 95
J. McCullough, lead . 1,410 96
James Robertson, stopcocks . 1,855 00
T. 6c G. Rowe, castings . 598 71
Montgomery, repairing Manhattan pipes 149 43
S. S. Wandell, paving, . 333 88
E. Wain wright, brushes . 20 00
John J. Moffatt, repairs . 333 90
Thomas D. Howe, repairs . 215 80
W. Plumb, sundries . 12 79
S. Lockwood, wood . 27 00
John C. Robertson, repairs . 157 00
$26,765 09
Doc. No. 28]
206
1841.
Sept. 16. Workmen’s wages . $1,867 47
Cartage of pipes . 536 25
S. Colwell, pipes . 3,625 75
Ward, Stillman & Co., pipes . 3,397 21
Joseph W. Brick, pipes . 1,161 93
A. M. Jones & Brothers, pipes . 2,218 88
D. C. Wood, pipes . 1,288 21
Blair & Quin, trenches . . 2,226 37
James Robertson, stopcocks . 1,771 00
T. &. G. Rowe, castings . 772 93
James McCullough, lead . 838 04
H, Y. B. Barker, trenches . 695 59
R. B. Dyckman, yarns . 255 00
— Whitley, Wood, . 48 00
Charles O’Neil, charcoal . 27 38
J. A. Sayre, book case . 31 00
J. Lozier, pine wood . 21 00
Ellicott & Brothers, branches . 320 98
$21,092 99
Ellicott & Brothers, pipes, payable in 5 per cent. Water Stock . $5,675 01
MOSES G. LEONARD, RICHARD S. WILLIAMS,
F. R. LEE.
DOCUMENT No. 29.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accordance with an Ordinance to provide for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs respectfully report, that since the recess of the Board, in August last, they have audited and ordered paid, various bills that have been presented, a majority of the Committee having at all times
been present, viz :
August 5th, 1841. For workmen’s wages . $ 924 82
“ cleaning . 63 00
“ materials of various kinds 2007 24 $2995 06
Of which was paid on the account of the Fire
Department . $1226 16
For Repairs and Supplies . 1768 90
$2995 06
208
Doc. No. 29.]
August 20th, 1841. For workmen’s wages . $ 832 98
For materials . 1465 95
|2298 93
Of which was paid for Fire Department . $ 612 67
“ “ Repairs and Supplies . 1686 26
$2298 93
September 3d, 1841. For workmen’s wages .... $ 875 87
For materials . 859 98
For coal . 2867 92
$4603 77
Of which was paid for Fire Department . $ 499 92
“ “ Repairs and Supplies . 1235 93
“ “ Special appropriation for
fuel . 2867 92
$4603 77
September 16th, 1841. For workmen’s wages .. . $ 861 84 For repairs and supplies. 757 37
$1619 21
Of which was paid for Fire Department . $ 714 48
“ “ Repairs and Supplies . 904 69 *
$1619 17
FREDERICK R. LEE, CALVIN BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 30.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Report of the Committee of Lamps and Gas , in accordance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accountability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Lamps and Gas beg leave respectfully to
REPORT :
In compliance with an ordinance relative to Executive and other Committees, they have authorized a contract to be made by the Superintendent of Lamps and Gas, with Messrs. D. & A. Kingsland of this City, for twenty-five hundred gallons of summer strained sperm oil, at the rate of eighty- seven cents per gallon ; also, for six thousand gallons of fall strained sperm oil, at the rate of eighty-eight cents per gallon, the above being the lowest offer for approved quality, pre¬ sented to the Committee.
EDWARD S. INNES, CALVIN BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 31.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
OCTOBER 4, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Lamps and Gas, in accord¬ ance with an Ordinance to provide for the Accounta¬ bility of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Lamps and Gas respectfully
REPORT :
That they have authorized the Superintendent of Lamps and Gas to make contract with Messrs. I. & K. Dunn, for two hundred gas lamp frames, at one 87^-100 dollar each, that being the lowest offer made the Committee after having advertised for proposals.
EDWARD S. INNES, CALYIN BALIS,
C. B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 38.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
OCTOBER 18, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs in accordance with the Ordinance to provide for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, in accord¬ ance with the ordinance providing for the accountability of Executive Committees, respectfully
REPORT:
That at the meeting held Oct. 14, 1841, the following bills were presented, approved, and the Comptroller was directed to pay the same :
Workmen’s wages . $705 12
Materials . . . ...! 53143
$1,236 55
Of which was paid for Repairs and Supplies 895 04 “ “ Fire Department. .. . 341 51
$1236 55
FREDERICK R. LEE, C. B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 33.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
SEPTEMBER 20, 1841.
Report of the Ferry Committee, submitting the form of a Lease for the Grand Street and Williamsburgh Ferry. Laid on the table.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Ferries, to whom was referred the sub¬ ject of the renewal of the lease of the Grand Street Ferry,
REPORT:
That they have caused advertisements to be published for proposals for such lease, and submit the annexed form, which has been agreed to by the lessees therein named, for the sanction of the Common Council.
Respectfully submitted.
FELIX O’NEIL,
ELIJAH H. KIMBALL.
F. R. LEE.
.
-dfi- bs-mteT uw mcufo <•>> - ihte'd iK»9ortiBmr^> *dT
, j “'i ' ;:v r’_; -I .-i.j'io
9,S; 1 .: -. :i - • • !■■, - r, iff - xri
.battioidwa viisaiosqesS
.aaj .h .r;f
GRAND STREET AND WILLIAMSBURCH FERRY LEASE.
(Up* ^nkntmf made the day of in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and forty-one, between the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, of the first part, and John A. Cross, Richard Leaycraft, Abraham Messerole, Abraham Boerum, William Wall, Jacob Bery, and John Mil¬ ler, of the second part, SHi'ttteSSCtft, that the said parties of the first part, for and in consideration of the rents, covenants and agreements hereinafter mentioned and contained, on the part and behalf of the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators, and assigns, well and truly to be paid, observed, performed, fulfilled, and kept, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents, have granted, demised, and to farm letter), and by these presents do grant, demise, and to farm let unto the said parties of the second part, and their executors, administrators, and assigns, all that ferry established and to be established, from the foot of Grand street, in the City of New York, over and across the East River to the foot of Grand street, in the Town of Williams- burgh, where the boats now land, or to the foot of the street next to Grand street last aforesaid, on the north or south thereof; and also from the foot of Grand street, in the City of New York, to the foot of South seventh street, in the town of Williamshurgh aforesaid, or to the foot of the street next to South seventh street aforesaid, on the north or south thereof, with all and singular the rights, members, profits, ad¬ vantages, fixtures, and appurtenances thereof, belonging to the said parties of the first part: to have and to hold the same unto the said parties of the second part, their executors, ad¬ ministrators and assigns, for and during, and until the full end and term of seven years from the first day of May next,
218
Doc. No. 33.]
yielding and paying therefor yearly, and every year, during the said term, the yearly rent of six thousand dollars, in quar¬ ter yearly payments, on the usual days of payment, to wit, on the first days of August, November, February, and May in ■each and every year during the term hereby demised. And the said parties of the second part, for themselves, their exe¬ cutors, administrators, and assigns, do covenant and agree to and with the said parties of the first part, their successors and assigns, that they the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators, and assigns, shall and will well and truly pay, or cause to be paid, unto the said parties of the first part, their successors and assigns, the said yearly rent above reserved, at the several times above limited and ap¬ pointed for the payment thereof. And also that the said par¬ ties of the second part, their executors, administrators, or assigns, shall and will from the first day of May next, at their own proper costs and expenses, furnish, provide and navigate from the foot of Grand street, in the City of New York, to the foot of Grand street in Williamsburgh, or to the foot of the street next to Grand street last aforesaid, on the north or south thereof, two good substantial single keeled steamboats, not less than ninety feet on deck, and not inferior to the steamboat “John C. Minturn,” now running on the Houston street Ferry, and from the foot of Grand street in the City of New York, to the foot of South seventh street aforesaid, or to the foot of the street next to South seventh street aforesaid, on the north or south thereof, one steamboat of the same description with those aforesaid, except as to size; and will keep the said steam ferry boats employed on the said ferries, in such manner and at such times as the public accommoda¬ tion requires, and as shall be directed from time to time by the Joint Committees oh Ferries of the Common Council of the City of New York. And also that the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators, or assigns, shall and will at their own proper cost, charges, and expenses, at all times during the term hereby granted, furnish, maintain,
219
[Doc. No. 33.
and keep upon the said ferry two good and sufficient row¬ boats, to be used in case of emergency, fo carry passengers and effects across the said river, whenever the public conve¬ nience shall require, with safety and convenience: and that the said steamboats shall always, during the said term, be furnished and manned with a sufficient number of able bodied men, skilled in water service, to sail and manage the same; and that the said men so to be employed in all and every of the said boats shall, at all reasonable times, be ready and willing to give their constant and rqady attendance at the said ferry, for the prompt and convenient transportation of horses, carriages, passengers and effects across the said river ; and that the said parties of the second part, their executors, ad¬ ministrators and assigns, shall not ask, demand, or receive any higher or greater toll, fare, or rate of ferriage, or any higher or greater commutation for passengers, carriages, horses or ef¬ fects, than such as is specified in the schedule of rates of ferriage which is hereunto annexed. And that the said par¬ ties of the second part, their executors, administrators or as- signs, shall and will at their own proper costs and charges, provide good and sufficient bridges, floats, ferry accommoda¬ tions and fixtures, at each landing place of the said ferry, excepting a new bulkhead and piers at the foot of Grand street, in the City of New York, which are to be built at the expense of the said parties of the first part, in case the same should become necessary, and that the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators or assigns, shall and will, at their own proper costs and charges, at all times during the term hereby demised, well and sufficiently uphold, maintain, and keep in good and substantial repair, all such necessary bridges, floats, ferry accommodations and fixtures as aforesaid, and also such bulkhead and piers as aforesaid, as may be made by the said parties of the first part, for the accommodating of the ferries aforesaid. And that at the expiration or sooner determination of the said term hereby demised, the said parties of the second part, their executors,
Doc. No. 33.]
220
administrators, or assigns, shall and will peaceably and quietly leave, surrender, and yield up the said ferry, and every thing hereby demised, together with the bulkheads, piers, floats, bridges, and other fixtures, ferry accommodations, and improvements, which may have been erected or made by either of the parties for the use of the said ferries, in good order and condition, into the possession of the said parties of the first part, their successors or assigns, without fraud or delay. And also, that the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators and assigns, shall not nor will during the said term assign, transfer, set over, mortgage, en¬ cumber, underlet, or in any other manner convey this present lease, or any part thereof, or the above demised premises, or any part of the same, without the leave and consent of the said parties of the first part, their successors or assigns, in writing first had and obtained. And also that the said par¬ ties of the second part, their executors, administrators and assigns shall, at all times, during the said term, conduct and manage the said ferry agreeably to such rules, regulations, rates of ferriage, times of running, and restrictions as now are,. or may from time to time hereafter, during the said term by any byelaw, ordinance or resolution of the said parties of the first part, or their successors or by any Statute of the State, be made or passed in relation to the same. And it is agreed by and between the parties to these presents, that if at any time during the said term, the said parties of the first part, or their successors, shall require any part of the said premises, for the purpose of docking out and building East street, that in such case the said parties of the first part, or their successors, shall be and are hereby authorized to make such improvements without any manner of claim for damage, or any abatement of rent, or otherwise, on the part of the said parties of the second part, their executors, adminis¬ trators, or assigns, by reason thereof; but if made, the new slip shall be left in such suitable condition for ferry use, as the same shall be in when such improvement shall be com-
221
[Doc. No. 33.
menced ; and a slip shall be provided by the said parties of the first part for a temporary landing place during the said interruption; all the fixtures to be at the expense of the said parties of the second part. And it is further agreed that nothing herein contained shall be construed to give to the said parties of the second part, their executors, administrators or assigns, any claim for damages upon the said parties of the first part, their successors or assigns: Provided always, ne¬ vertheless, and these presents are upon this express condition, that if the said yearly rent, or any part thereof, shall be be¬ hind and unpaid for the space of ten days after any day of payment, on which the same ought to be paid as aforesaid, or if the said parties of the second part, their executors, adminis¬ trators or assigns, shall neglect to perform, fulfil, and keep any or either of the articles, clauses, or agreements herein contained, which on their part are to be performed, fulfilled, and kept, according to the true intent and meaning of these presents; then and in such case it shall be lawful for the said parties of the first part, their successors or assigns, to declare in writing, to the said parties of the second part, their execu¬ tors, administrators and assigns, that these presents, and the estate hereby created, shall be null and void; in which qase, every clause, article, or thing herein contained shall be thenceforth null and void.
In witness whereof, to one part of these presents remain¬ ing with the said parties of the first part, the said parties of the second part have set their hands and seals, and to the other part of these presents remaining with the said parties of the second part, the said parties of the first part have caused their Common Seal to be affixed the day and year first above written.
Sealed and delivered ? in the presence of $
The schedule of rates of ferriage is to be the same as now charged on the G.rand Street Ferry, except for foot passen¬ gers, which is to be three cents for each.
DOCUMENT No. 34.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
OCTOBER 18, 1841.
Quarterly report of the Croton Aqueduct Commissioner , in accordance with the Ordinance. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Croton Aqueduct Department, ) New York, Oct. 1, 1841. $
To the Hon. the Common Council of the City of New York.
As required by the “ Ordinance to organize the Croton Aqueduct Department,” the undersigned herewith presents a statement of the expenditures during the quarter ending Sept. 30; a return of the water pipes and other materials on hand ; and the quantity of pipes and their connections under contract.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
H. A. NORRIS,
Croton Aqueduct Commissioner.
Doc. No. 34.]
224
Croton Aqueduct Department, ? New York, Oct. 1, 1841. \
REPORT OE EXPENDITURES
From 1st July to 30th September, 1841, inclusive.
Water Pipes and Branches.
|
Paid Stephen Colwell . |
$31,121 28 |
|
|
“ Merrick & Towne . |
27,996 40 |
|
|
“ Chollar and Jones . . |
33,169 82 |
|
|
Ellicott & Brothers . |
18,368 92 |
|
|
« Ward, Stillman & Co . |
19,390 42 |
|
|
“ Joseph W. Brick . . |
13,066 22 |
|
|
“ A. M. Jones & Brother . |
10,619 87 |
|
|
“ David C. Wood . |
8,519 55 |
|
|
“ John Cumings . |
5,999 80 |
|
|
“ Wintersteen &, Myers . |
3,833 03 |
|
|
“ T. & G. Rowe . . . . . . |
637 12 - $172,722 43 |
|
|
Stopcocks. |
||
|
Paid James Robertson . |
5985 00 |
|
|
Hydrants. |
||
|
Paid T. <fe G. Rowe, castings . |
$2,975 40 |
|
|
“ James Robertson, fitting up. |
. 4,650 00 |
7625 40 |
Repairing Stopcocks and Hydrants.
Paid James Robertson . 33 00
Stopcock Boxes.
Paid John I. Moffat . 1386 00
Amount carried forward . $187,751 83
Amount brought forward,
$187,751 83
Lead for Joints.
Paid James McCullough .
Yarn for Joints.
Paid R. B. Dikeman
Cartage of Pipes.
Paid Grout & Wandell . $735 50
“ Patrick Galligher . 243 39
“ Henry Saelor . 249 75
“ John I. Cooper . 273 38
“ Patrick Slavin . 167 63
“ Peres Reynolds . 242 60
“ Henry Chanfraud . 212 63
“ Matliias Carstine . 236 12
“ Thomas Miller . 126 75
“ Thomas Miller, jun . 205 12
“ John C. Wandell . 234 88
“ Abraham Teale . 209 26
“ lac Vanderbeck . 220 89
“ Peter Spier . 204 75
“ William H. Evers . 4 12
“ Thomas Maher . 207 50
“ Peter Hamill . 183 12
“ George McNamara . 192 12
“ George W. Whitley . 114 63
“ Cornelius Bunner . 64 62
“ Caleb Brush . 57 00
“ Henry Gates . 40 50
« William Whitley . 12 00
5616 78
255 00
4437 26
Amount carried forward ,
, $193,060 87
Doc. No. 34.]
226
Amount brought forward . $198,060 87
Digging and Filling Trenches and Repaving Streets.
Paid Samuel S. Wandell . $7597 21
“ 11. Y. B, Barker . 3509 39
“ Blair & Q,uin . 6714 44
- 17,821 04
Repairing Sewers, Manhattan, Logs , Spc.
Paid Jacob Lozier . . $ 16 63
“ William M. Montgomery . 149 43
“ Thomas D. Howe . 214 80
u Samuel S. Wandell . 41 38
Tools and Repairing Tools.
Paid Fare & Fowler . $100 00
“ Moore & Vanderbeck . 267 56
“ William Condon . 152 89
“ E. Brown & Son . 144 00
11 John C. Robertson . • . 181 70
1 “ Martin Lai or . 975
“ E. Wain wright . 20 00
u Frederick R. Lee . 48 35
{t Abraham Brower . 15 44
“ John Beatty. . 40 00
422 24
979 69
Whitewashing Pipes.
Paid John C. Dunn . $79 14
“ James O. Farrell . . 35 02
11 Samuel S. Wandell . 25 65
- 139 81
Amount carried forward,
$217,423 65
227
[Doc. No. 34.
Amount brought forward . $217,423 65
Office Furniture.
Paid John N. Sayre . 31 00
Patterns.
Paid T. & G. Rowe . 5 10
Pine Wood.
Paid Reuben Smith . . . $ 56 25
“ Samuel Lockwood . 138 00
“ William Whitley . 48 00
“ Stephen Lozier . 21 00
- 263 25
Contingent Expenses.
Paid John I. Moffat,! abor, lumber, &c. $333 90
“ David Felt & Co., stationery . . 49 01
“ Charles O’Neil, charcoal and car¬ tage . 27 38
“ William Plumb, sundries . 60 33
- 470 62
Workmen's Wages.
Paid foremen and workmen on the lines, and at the yard, one clerk, and one draughts¬ man . 9,719 09
.$227,912 71
Doc. No. 34.]
228
NUMBER OP THE DIFFERENT SIZES OP WATER PIPES AND TIIEIR CONNECTIONS*,
On hand 1st Oct. 1841.
Pipes, 30 inches diameter . 2,304
“ 24 “ « 936
“ 20 “ “ 3,672
“16 “ . 9,117
" 12 «' “ 1,431
6 “ « 24,849
“ 4 « « 4,446
Total number of feet 46,755 Branches from 16 to 4 inches diameter 246
Caps ... “ 12 to 4 “ “ 220
Sleeves “ 16 to 4 “ “ 159
Bevel hubs “ 20 to 6 « « 72
Reducers “ 16 to 4 u “ 51
Frames and covers . 121
Stopcocks, 16 inch . 3
“ 12 “ . . . 6
“ 6 « . 18
Hydrants . 14
At Fort Gansevoort, condemned. Pipe, 12 inches diameter, 828 feet.
229
[Doc. No. 34-
water PIPES AND THEIR CONNECTIONS,
Under Contract and not delivered , October 1st, 1841.
|
Contractors’ Names. |
Quantities. |
Size. |
|
A. M. Jones & Brother . |
6-inch pipes |
|
|
Ellicott & Brothers . |
« a |
|
|
David C. Wood . |
it u |
|
|
Joseph W. Brick . |
“ “ |
|
|
Do . |
12-inch “ |
|
|
Ellicott & Brothers .... - |
16-inch “ |
|
|
Do . |
20- inch “ |
|
|
Do . |
24 inch « |
|
|
Wintersteen & Myers . |
16-inch “ |
|
|
Do . |
20-inch “ |
|
|
Do . . . |
24-inch “ |
|
|
Merrick & Town . |
30-inch “ |
|
|
Ward, Stillman & Co . . |
36-inch “ |
|
|
Chollar & Jones . |
36-inch “ |
Jamas Robertson . 90 tons 12-inch stopcocks.
Joseph W. Brick . 100 tons branches.
DOCUMENT No. 35,
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOVEMBER 1, 1841.
Report of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, relative to the quarrel between Engine Companies Nos. 44, 33, and 30. Accepted and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Joint Committee on Fire and Water, to whom was referred the annexed communication of the Chief Engineer relative to a breach of the peace which occurred on the morn¬ ing of the fifth day of September last, alleged to have been committed by members of the Fire Department, respectfully
REPORT :
That immediately upon the receipt of said communication, they entered upon the examination of the complaints therein contained, with an anxious desire to ascertain and bring to punishment those who were the actors in a scene which was not only attended with serious consequences to some who" were innocently present, but calculated to affix a stain upon
Doc No. 35.]
232
the reputation of the Department, which your Committee re¬ gret to be obliged to state, numbers among its members some who, for several months past, have exhibited a disposition to trample under foot the good order of society, and set at defi¬ ance the laws by which it should be regulated and governed, and have thereby lowered the standard of an institution which has heretofore maintained a high and enviable station in the community, not only for the zeal and alacrity manifested in the discharge of its duties, but in the moral character and reputation of its members. It is true that there are very many honorable exceptions to this charge, and who are en¬ tirely removed from the stigma which has been thrown around them as a body of citizens, who have upon all occasions en¬ deavored, by every means in their power, to allay the excite¬ ment which now unfortunately exists, and by prompt and decisive action, endeavor to detect those to whom they are indebted for the charges and complaints which are so often brought against them.
The circumstances connected with the recent disturbances, as nearly as they 'have been able to ascertain the same from the mass of testimony taken before them, are substantially as follows : That on the morning of the fifth day of September last, after a fire which occurred in the course of the night, as Engine Company No. 44 was returning towards their place of deposite, and while in Bond street, in the neighbor¬ hood of the Bowery, they were violently assaulted by a large number of men and boys, their engine taken from them and drawn a considerable distance down the Bowery, from whence it was returned by a posse of Watchmen, and again put in possession of the Company. The attack appears to have been premeditated on the part of the assailants, as from the testimony of the Watchman, it appears that as he was pas¬ sing through Houston street, and when near the Bowery, he saw several engines returning from the fire, and among them one which he believed to be No. 30 ; that in company with said engine was a large number of persons, many of whom, after
233
[Doc. No. 35.
they had passed him left the ropes nd dispossessed them¬ selves of their fire caps, and placed them in a cart near where he was standing; from which, and other circumstances, he was apprehensive of a disturbance, and gave the alarm rap, when he was assailed with foul language, and a brick thrown at him, which he observing, fortunately avoided: he then proceeded immediately to the Sub-Watch House, for the pur¬ pose of procuring assistance, and by the time he had rallied the men and returned, the fight had ended and order was restored. He had no knowledge who the person was who threw the brick, neither could he recognise any person among the crowd engaged in the disturbance.
That from the testimony of another witness, it appears that upon his return from the fire, and when in the vicinity of Bleecker street, he observed a large collection of men and boys evidently intent on mischief, and from their conversa- sation lying in wait for the approach of Engine No. 44, as upon his passing, some one or more observed “ here she comes,” upon hearing which, they gathered together in the centre of the street and on the sidewalks, for the purpose, as he supposed, of intercepting the members; but when the engine approached, it proved to be another number, and no interference was offered. That having received information which satisfied him o the design upon the Company o 44, he immediately went in pur¬ suit of them for the purpose of acquainting them with the circumstance, and upon almost every corner which he passed, large numbers ofpersons were assembled, inquiring for engine 44. That upon one of the corners he heard a person disput¬ ing with a Watchman endeavoring to persuade him of the folly of raising an alarm, saying, “ it is of no use to give the alarm rap, for a hundred men cannot stop this party,” and advised him to go home and lie down. The Watchman con¬ tinued the alarm, and while they were engaged in talking, a shout was given, and the crowd ran in the direction from whence it proceeded, which proved to have been given upon the approach of victims. One witness swears, that among
Doc. No. 35.]
234
the crowd he observed a number of persons with 33 upon their suspenders; that others had caps on, but the numbers thereon he could not tell ; and some without them, with the sleeves of their shirts rolled up, as if anticipating a contes t and that among those assembled in the Bowery, the numbers 30 and 1 were observed upon their caps and suspenders ; but the Committee found it impossible, after a scrutinizing exami¬ nation, to ascertain the names of the persons who were present upon that occasion. That an individual who was in search of 44 was stopped by a crowd of persons and detained by them, in order to prevent him from giving information of their intended assault, but he soon afterwards made his escape, and was present at the time of attack, who swore po¬ sitively that among those engaged in the riot, were several with fire caps on with the number 30 upon their fronts; but whether they were volunteers, or members of the Company, he was unable to state. That in the course of the fight he saw one man with a knife in his hand, with which a person was severely stabbed in the left side, and that blood flowed freely from the effects of the wound ; that bricks were thrown among the crowd, and one person was violently struck with what he supposed to be a stone sling.
Most of the witnesses agree in their statement that there were but few men among the assailants, and that most of the assailants were without hats, caps, coats, or vests.
From this statement of facts, it is evident that the quarrel was one which had been previously planned, and was fully arranged and understood by those who were engaged therein ; and from the precaution which they used in generally ap¬ pearing without their caps, has arisen the difficulty under which the Committee has labored in not being able to iden¬ tify any of the persons connected with the transaction. On behalf of Engine Company No. 33, the foreman and four of their members appeared before the Committee, and repre¬ sented themselves as a Special Committee, for the purpose of investigating and reporting the name of any member, if any,
235
[Doc. No. 35.
who was present at the time of the alleged assault, and that they had been unable to ascertain that any were there upon that occasion. The members of No. 30 were duly notified, but no person appeared on their behalf. In reference to which Company, it appears from the testimony of two wit¬ nesses, that they returned to their house immediatelyjjjafter the fire, put their apparatus in order, called the roll, and that the members separated ; that a number of boys then started for the purpose, as they said, of seeing the fight with No. 44 ; but who were to be engaged therein, did not appear, and both witnesses positively assert that in their opinion, not a member of the Company was implicated in the transaction, and one or both were equally confident that none of the members of No. 33 were present, or if present, took any part in the contest.
Upon the first intimation of this outrage, the Committee ordered the engines entrusted to the three Companies impli¬ cated, to be immediately taken from them and placed under their control, in the hopes that by so doing, they should be enabled to fasten the charge upon the guilty, in order that the Common Council might inflict such punishment upon them as the violated law demanded, and the orderly and well disposed members of the Department had a right to demand at their hands ; but singular as the facts may appear to those who are not familiar with the examination of quarrels of this character, they have found it impossible, after a labori¬ ous investigation of several weeks, satisfactorily to arrive at a conclusion which would justify them in visiting upon any member of the Department the censure of this Board, as in no instance has the testimony been of such a character as to bring the charge directly home to the persons connected therewith.
Upon a full and impartial view of this unpleasant subject, they have arrived at the conclusion that the difficulty is in a great measure to be attributed to the large collections of young men and boys who are in the habit of attaching them-
Doc. No. 35.]
236
selves as volunteers to the various fire apparatus, many of whom are of the most lawless and abandoned character, de¬ prived of all moral restraint, and being permitted by their parents and guardians to prowl about the city at all hours of the night, are ready upon all occasions to provoke excite¬ ment, and in the heat of passion, and too often under the influ¬ ence of intoxicating drinks, to commit acts of violence of the most outrageous and degrading character ; over persons such as these the Committee have no authority, and although in a number of instances they have caused them to be arrested upon criminal process, yet the convictions have been so few, owing to the evidence which they appear always to have at their command, that they failed in producing any salutary effect among them.
The Committee cannot too strongly urge upon those njem- bers of the Department who feel an interest in its moral* re¬ form, to discountenance all associations of the character above referred to, and under no circumstances to permit them to have access to the buildings and apparatus entrusted to ther care, satisfied as they are, that if these volunteer com¬ panies could be broken up, and their associations abandoned, so that the Department should be represented only by its members, that the time is not distant, when it would re¬ gain its former character and again become, as it was in years that have passed, the pride of our city, and the admi¬ ration of strangers from every section of the Union.
Much credit is due to the efficient Chief Engineer of the Department for the prompt and decided manner in which this subject was brought before the Committee, and for the industry and zeal which he has manifested in endeavoring to procure testimony in order to fix the guilt upon those who were participating in the affray, and although his efforts have not been crowned with that success which he and the Com¬ mittee had hoped, yet it has satisfied them that if industry and perseverance could have accomplished the object, that they would have been able in this report to present to the
237
[Doc. No. 35.
Common Council the names of those who are unworthy the badge of Firemen, and to have separated from the Depart¬ ment those who are its reproach and its shame.
Upon mature deliberation of all the circumstances connect¬ ed with this subject, the Committee offer for adoption the following resolutions :
Resolved , That the members of Engine Company No. 44 be, and they are hereby exonerated from any censure in reference to the attack made upon them while in the dis¬ charge of their duties as Firemen, as the examination has clearly established the fact that they were the victims of assault, without any provocation on their part, and that in their participation therein, they acted only on the defensive.
Resolved , That from the testimony taken before the Com¬ mittee, it does not conclusively appear that the members of Engine Companies No. 30 and 33, were present and partici¬ pated as a Company in the riot and assault which occurred on the fifth day of September last, but that some of the indi¬ vidual members thereof, or those who are in the habit of associating with them, and permitted to assume their number, were recognised among the crowd and actively engaged therein.
Resolved, That the practice of permitting volunteer asso¬ ciations to assume the garb of Firemen, and to mingle in the duties thereof, is not only in direct and open violation of the Ordinances of the Common Council, but calculated in its results to demoralize the character of our youth, and to bring reproach upon the Department by the riotous and disorderly conduct in which they are so often engaged, and that the officers and members of each company be desired forthwith to disband all associations of volunteers, and upon no occa¬ sion to suffer or permit them to have access to the public property ; and all Magistrates, Watchmen and Police Officers
Doc. No. 35.]
238
are hereby 'requested to prevent the congregating of all boys around or in the vicinity of Engine, Hose, and Hook and Ladder Houses, to the end that the members of the Fire De¬ partment may be recognized as such, and be held responsi¬ ble for all deviations from the path of duty and the require¬ ments of the Ordinances of the Common Council.
All which is respectfully submitted.
C. B. TIMPSON, MORRIS FRANKLIN,
A. HATFIELD,
DANIEL WARD,
WM. ADAMS,
D. D. BRIGGS.
The complaint of the Foreman of Engine Company No. 26, against Engine Company No. 44, attached to the report of the Chief Engineer, will be reported upon at a future meeting.
TO THE HONORABLE THE COMMON COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK :
The Chief Engineer of the Fire Department regrets that he is compelled to inform your honorable body, that a riot and fight occurred on Saturday night last, between Engine Companies No. 30, 33 and 44, which for brutality and fero¬ city, has had no parallel in the annals of our Fire Depart¬ ment, and which will doubtless result in the death of at least one individual.
On Saturday night 4th instant, while Engine Company No. 44 was returning from the fire in Houston street, and while passing near the corner of the Bowery and Bond street, they were attacked by a large body of individuals, composed as far as the Chief can learn, of members and vol¬ unteers of Engine Companies No. 30 and 33. After taking possession of Engine No. 44, they commenced a furious at¬ tack upon the Company attached to it, which lasted a long time, disturbing the peace of the whole neighborhood. Dur¬ ing the affray, clubs, pipes, wrenches and weapons of diffe¬ rent descriptions were used, and a number of persons severely injured ; among them, one John Manault, formerly a member of Engine Company No. 30, was stabbed in such a manner that his life is despaired of. The Chief cannot too earnestly entreat your honorable body to fully investigate this matter, and not to pass over it in silence. It is hardly six months since a similar complaint was preferred by him in regard to two of these companies, Nos. 30 and 44, when one of the members of the latter was stabbed, and yet to this day the offenders are at large, and no punishment has been awarded to them. The Chief cannot ascertain the origin of the quar¬ rel in the present instance, but from such evidence as he has gathered, he is fully satisfied that the attack on Engine Company No; 44, was deliberately planned and premedi-
240
Doc. No. 35.]
tated by persons connected with Engine Companies No. 30 and 33. The excitement in regard to it among the orderly portion of the Fire Department is intense, as well as among the citizens ; they look to your honorable body for the adop¬ tion of such measures, however severe in their nature, as may be necessary to punish the offenders, and prevent any similar outrage in future against the laws and peace of our city.
Respectfully submitted.
CORNELIUS Y. ANDERSON,
Chief Engineer.
September 6th, 1841,
DOCUMENT No. 36.
board of aldermen,
NOVEMBER 15, 1841.
Rep„t oftHe Committee
dance with the Ordmanc Common Council
litij of Executive Committees of t
Ordered on file. _ wiTJJB. Clerk.
respectfully REPORT :
contract with Messrs. D. grained sperm oil, at the
twenty thousand gallons o w o„, deliverable at the oil rate of ninety-two cents 1 § may be required.
house, when and in sue q cents per gauon for the
The contractors are to a them making the net
empty casks, which are to be returned them “ g
priL chargeable to the departm^y cen ^
CALVIN BALIS, r. TL T1MPSON.
'VA'ftir: ■
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. .
' V«w"
- i-/.; I no i“;?: - •
; >jj a!
’ ' • ‘ > i d)Q Hi$ .
sdnruiV
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■ Atno vlt jtttl oMm/g-iab &>hrf
DOCUMENT No. 37.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOYEMBER 15, 1841.
The following communication was received from his Ho¬ nor the Mayor, returning , with his objections, the pream¬ ble and resolution, authorizing the Committees on Charity and Alms House to contract with Mack Oakley, for the building of a Mad House on Blackwell’s Island, for the sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, which was laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Whereas, a difference of opinion exists in the minds of the Committees on Charity and Alms House, as to the carry¬ ing out the resolution adopted by this Board the sixth Sep¬ tember last, directing the erection of a mad house on Black¬ well’s Island, a copy of which resolution is annexed, — There¬ fore, be it
Resolved, That the Committees on Charity and Alms House, of both Boards, be authorized to contract with Mack
Doc. No. 37.]
244
Oakley, for the erection of said building, as directed in the foregoing resolution, for the sum of ttventy-five thousand dollars, and that being the lowest offer for erecting the said building when estimates were advertised for, under a former resolution of the Common Council, and that the said mad house be erected agreeably to the plans and specifications therein referred to, and to be located near the place desig¬ nated by a former resolution, and completed within such time as the said Committees may direct.
Mayor’s Office, November 15, 1841.
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
I herewith return to your Honorable Body, with my objec¬ tions, the resolution which originated in your Board, au¬ thorizing the Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, immediately to contract with Mack Oakley, for the erection of a mad house on Blackwell’s Island, at the cost of twenty-five thousand dollars, not including the plumber’s work.
I find from examination all that could be done this season towards the erection of said building would be the digging of the foundation and building the foundation walls, and that the building could be finished within a month of the same period were it commenced in the spring, as it would be should the contract be made this fall, and the work be im¬ mediately commenced. Whether the building be com¬ menced this fall or next spring, it cannot be occupied before the latter part of the fall of next year.
Since 1 signed the resolution of September last, authorizing the erection of the building contemplated by this resolution, I have received information that one of the buildings of the State
245
[Doc. No. 37.
Lunatic Asylum at Utica is finished, and ready to receive inmates as soon as the Legislature shall pass a law- designat¬ ing the number each county of the State will be entitled to send to that institution. Before the spring — and I'suppose, Upon a subject so charitable, humane and important, imme¬ diately upon its meeting— the Legislature will pass laws ne¬ cessary to have that building occupied, and we shall be in¬ formed of the number of patients our population will entitle us to send there. As the other buildings of the State Institu¬ tion shall be finished (there being three others in progress of erection) we shall be entitled to send an increased number of patients to that charity.
Prudence and a just regard for the interests of our con¬ stituents, demand, that with this prospect of immediate re¬ lief from the State Institution, and as the unfortunate in¬ mates of our Asylum cannot be immediately benefited by our expenditure of this twenty-five thousand dollars, we should postpone the making of this contract until after the action of the Legislature, which will inform us whether this building will be required. Should it be required the con¬ tract can then be made, and the building be finished and oc¬ cupied within one month of the time it would be, should it now be commenced. For these reasons, at the present time, I deem it my duty to withhold my concurrence to the reso¬ lution.
I am informed by the report of the Joint Special-Commit¬ tee on Public Buildings on Blackwell’s Island, Document No. 25 of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, that “some fur¬ ther accommodations might be provided by appropriating parts of the Asylum not now occupied and I am told by gentlemen of the Common Council, and by officers of the Cor¬ poration, that these further accommodations could be made to amount to 140 additional separate apartments ; that most of them could be arranged for immediate occupation, and that the whole cost would not exceed three thousand dollars. These 140, added to the 193 separate apartments now in the
Doc. No. 37.]
246
buildings, would amount to 333 separate apartments. The number of inmates now in the institution is 305, and has for a long time ranged between 295 and 305, the highest num¬ ber. This would give a separate apartment to each inmate.
I suggest to your Honorable Body, that whether you concur with me or differ in my objection to the passage at this time of the resolution returned to you, that you will immediately cause whatever room there may be in the Asy¬ lum, not now occupied, to be converted into apartments for the inmates. That course will give immediate relief, as they can be occupied at once.
I am confident that our constituents, jealous as they justly are of improper and unnecessary expenditures, will approve of the expense necessary to convert the unoccupied parts of the present building into accommodations for the unfortu¬ nate, even though it should prove to be but a temporary structure.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
DOCUMENT No. 38.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOVEMBER 15, 1841.
The following Communication was received from his Honor the Mayor , whereupon so much of it as relates to Intelligence Offices, and Hack and Cab owners, was re¬ ferred to the Committee on Laws, the other portion to the Committee on Arts and Sciences.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, November 15, 1841.
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen:
Gentlemen, — Late investigations into the conduct of some of the Keepers of Intelligence Offices in this City show that amendments are necessary to the ordinances upon that sub¬ ject. Great frauds have been committed upon the laboring portion of our citizens, for want of necessary guards and checks upon the keepers of those offices. There is no rate of compensation for their services fixed by law: each charges according to his own will. They receive compensation from the employer and the employed, are in the habit of advertising
248
Doc. No. 38.]
daily that persons are wanted for situations, for which they have received no order to procure persons, and take money from applicants for situations, frequently their last dollar, without furnishing them either with a place, or information enabling them to obtain one. For such conduct I have deprived several Keepers of their licenses. I suggest that ordinances should be enacted, regulating their charges, affix¬ ing a penalty for advertising for persons to fill situations for which they have received no orders, and requiring them to keep books open to the inspection of the City Authorities, in which shall be entered all applications or orders they may receive in the way of their business.
I respectfully urge this subject upon your immediate con¬ sideration. The extent of impositions upon that class of our fellow citizens who can least afford either the loss of the money that is taken frorii them, or of the time necessary to cor¬ rect an abuse, is very great.
I also call your attention to complaints made to me by a body of hack and cab owners and drivers, that certain per¬ sons of their class have had permission granted them by the Aldermen of their respective wards, to stand their cabs or hacks in front of the different hotels of the city, which privi¬ lege is necessarily limited to a few, and is of great advan¬ tage to those who are thus favored. The remainder, consti¬ tuting the greater part of the cab and hack owners and drivers, complain, and it seems to me with justice, that this practice is highly injurious to them, depriving them in a great mea¬ sure of a just competition for employment, the custom at the Hotels being entirely monopolised by those who may have the good fortune to be thus selected. 1 would suggest the propriety of assigning general stands for hacks and cabs in the vicinity of the large hotels, so as to consult the conveni¬ ence of the public, and at the same time afford a just and fair opportunity for competition.
I herewith submit the accompanying letter received by me on the 9th of October last, from Messrs. Graham & Sandfords,
249
[Dog. No. 38.
of this city, together with a copy of the ordinances passed by the City of New Orleans, in relation to dead animals. A be¬ lief that the subject is one of public utility induces me to communicate it to you.
Messrs. Collon & Cantel, French residents of this city, have established works on Forty-first street, near the North River, for the purpose of converting the carcases of animals into useful materials for different branches of manufacture. They suggest that by your co-operation with proper ordinances, the city may be relieved from the ill effects of dead animals deposited in open grounds, and floating in our docks and bay, and at the same time great pecuniary benefit will accrue to Messrs. Collon & Cantel.
It would be an important public regulation to rid the city of the nuisance referred to, and I feel confident that an exa¬ mination of the subject by you will result in ordinances be¬ neficial to the health and comfort of the city. I therefore call your serious attention to this subject.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
DOCUMENT No. 39.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOYEMBER 15, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , showing the amount of Expenditures, agreeably to an Ordinance of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting held November 11th, 1841, a majority of the Committee being present, the following bills were ex¬ amined and passed :
Workmen’s wages . $1,618 80
Cartage of pipes . 756 75
James Robertson, .for stop cocks . 1,700 00
Amount carried forward... . $4,075 55
Doc. No. 39.] 252
Amount brought forward . $4,075 55
T. & G. Rowe, for castings . 613 79
H. Y. B. Barker, for excavating . 890 83
Postley & Co., for castings . 353 27
James M’Cullough, for lead . 619 33
John Jacob Astor, for rent . . . 200 00
John C. Robertson, for tools, &c . 108 43
John Ely, for tools . . 135 53
William Maxwell, for yarn . 105 69
William Whitley, for wood . 37 50
B. F. Goodspeed, for services . 25 00
H. R. Dunham, for kettle, &c . 15 38
Ellicot 6c Brothers, for branches . 47 19
D. C. Wood, for pipe . 614 50
Colwell & Co., for pipe . 1,149 43'
John Brick, for pipe . , . 1,636 80
Ward, Stillwell 6c Co, for pipe . . 2,828 23
West Point Foundry, for pipe . 5,749 09
Merrick 6c Town, for pipe . 3,621 71
$22,827 25
Ellicot 6c Brothers for pipes, payable in
Water Stock . $9,106 83
MOSES G. LEONARD, FREDERICK R. LEE, RICHARD S. WILLIAMS.
DOCUMENT No. 40.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,
OCTOBER 22, 1841.
Report of a Select Committee of the Board of Supervi¬ sors, on the Communication of the Comptroller , relative to the tax of 1841. Adopted.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee of the Board of Supervisors for the County of New York, to whom were referred a communication from the Comptroller, and certain resolutions for imposing the tax for 1841, respectfully
REPORT:
That they have examined the subject referred, and find that it is necessary to raise by tax the sum of one million three hundred and seventy-one thousand one hundred and twenty-five dollars and ten cents, to meet the liabilities of the Corporation for the current year, to wit :
Doe. No. 40.]
254
For all general and contingent liabilities .... $811,000 00
For the watch tax . 234,000 00
For the lamp tax . 120,000 00
For the support of common schools:
State quota . $35,415 10
City do. half mill tax . 59,000 00
Instruction of the deaf, &c . 1,430 00
Clothing of the blind . 220 00
Clothing of deaf and dumb . 60 00
96,125 10
For the redemption of the floating debt . 50,000 00
Forelections . . . 50,000 00
For extending the Alms House, &,c . 10,000 00
$1,371,125 10
This sum is exclusive of the cost of assess¬ ing and collecting the tax, and the re-tax¬ ing delinquencies, which will amount to 33,800 51
Making the entire sum to be levied . $1,404,925 61
The amount raised last year, on all accounts, was . 1,354,835 29
The increase is $ 50,090 32
The amount thus proposed to be raised is authorized by the State Act, and no less amount, in the opinion of your Committee, will be adequate to sustain the City Corporation in meeting the obligations to which it is liable, and the pay¬ ment of which cannot be postponed.
They therefore recommend the passage of the resolutions annexed to the communication of the Comptroller, the Com¬ mittee having filled in the blanks with the proper sums.
All which is respectfully submitted.
JAMES POLLOCK, ) Special EGBERT BENSON, Committee MOSES G. LEONARD, f on Tax FREDERICK R. LEE, J for 1841.
255
[Doc. No. 40.
£
l
40,533 43
86,175 18
filSSliS P Sf§P*S §
Doe. No. 40.]
256
SUMMARY
Of Items to be credited to the Wards respectively , being Items paid into the City Treasury from October 1, 1840, to October 1, 1841.
|
WM, |
collected. |
Collectors’ Delinquencies |
Total. |
|
|
1 |
$501 26 |
$ 500 32 |
$ 1,001 58 |
|
|
2 |
3,119 03 |
$ 47 73 |
3,166 76 |
|
|
3 |
174 10 |
3,638 50 |
3,812 60 |
|
|
4 |
1,173 28 |
1,173 28 |
||
|
5 |
2,754 38 |
2,754 38 |
||
|
6 |
2,260 47 |
925 62 |
3,186 09 |
|
|
7 |
2,519 94 |
2,519 94 |
||
|
8 |
2,651 75 |
2,651 75 |
||
|
9 |
6,373 90 |
327 76 |
6,701 66 |
|
|
10 |
1,266 39 |
1,266 39 |
||
|
11 |
4,641 73 |
4,641 73 |
||
|
12 |
9,251 80 |
9,251 80 |
||
|
13 |
325 51 |
325 51 |
||
|
14 |
1,001 02 |
1,001 02 |
||
|
15 |
5,867 79 |
5,867 79 |
||
|
16 |
26,693 38 |
26,693 38 |
||
|
17 |
11,662 86 |
78 46 |
11,741 32 |
$87,756 98
257
[Doc. No. 40.
SUMMARY
Of Items to be charged upon the Wards respectively.
|
•W’ds. |
Collectors’ |
Collectors’ Deli* quencles |
"Ward Delinquencies. |
Remissions Of T.iX. |
Assessors' |
Totals. |
|
1 |
$2,983 31 |
$ 17 18 |
$ 2,618 93 |
$ 650 $ 6,269 42 |
||
|
2 |
1,556 84 |
302 81 |
1,951 60 |
650 4.461 25 |
||
|
3 |
1,575 04 |
1,454 93 |
1,178 20 |
650 |
' 4,858 17 |
|
|
4 |
1,542 52 |
4 22 |
1,599 00 |
650 |
1 3,795 74 |
|
|
5 |
1,517 31 |
53 89 |
2,755 99 |
$ 31 98 |
650 |
5,009 17 |
|
6 |
1,691 32 |
2,929 99 |
1,635 51 |
650 |
6,906 82 |
|
|
7 |
1,552. 63 |
1,923 09 |
34 52 |
650 |
4,160 24 |
|
|
8 |
1,676 14 |
2,587 49 |
650 |
4,913 63 |
||
|
9 |
1,544 05 |
132 51 |
4,068 32 |
650 |
6,394 88 |
|
|
10 |
1,516 23 |
14 53 |
1.515 29 |
5 27 |
650 |
3,701 32 |
|
11 |
1,821 08 |
170 47 |
1,916 81 |
14 91 |
650 |
4,573 27 |
|
12 |
1.422 55 |
16,589 41 |
82 80 |
700 |
18.794 76 |
|
|
13 |
1,567 95 |
386 90 |
650 |
2.604 85 |
||
|
14 |
1,564 89 |
265 10 |
835 28 |
650 |
3,315 27 |
|
|
15 |
1 818 67 |
69 03 |
4,882 77 |
650 |
7,420 47 |
|
|
16 |
1,663 42 |
17,487 08 |
244 80 |
1.300 |
20,695 30 |
|
|
17 |
1,510 94 |
1,167 25 |
9,254 02 |
750 |
12,582 21 |
|
|
$28,524 89 |
$6,581 91 |
$73,185 69l $414 2s|$ 11,750 |
$120,456 77 |
TAXES REMITTED,
Per Resolutions of Common Council, from October 1, 1840, to October 1, 1841.
1841. Jan. 1. O. R. Kingsbury . . . .
“ Feb. 8. Robert Provoost .
“ “ 22. Bowery Insurance Company, assessed to W.
Wagstaff and W. Slater .
“ Mar. 8. Rosamond Arden .
“ “ “ Cornelius Polhemus .
“ June 28. W. A. Bloodgood .
<( “ “ Jacob Bendenagle .
“ “ “ George Lewis .
$ 18 92
4 81
59 07 31 98
5 27 14 91 34 52
244 80
$414 28
Doc. No. 40.]
258
|
| Wards. | |
Tax. |
Charges, |
Credits. |
Total. |
|
t |
$329,975 53 |
$ 6,269 42 |
$ 1,001 58 |
$ 335,243 37 |
|
2 |
93,701 10 |
4,461 25 |
3,166 76 |
94,995 59 |
|
3 |
99,545 26 |
4,858 21 |
3,812 60 |
100,590 87 |
|
4 |
58,677 72 |
3,795 74 |
1,173 28 |
61,300 18 |
|
5 |
68,069 26 |
5,009 17 |
2,754 38 |
70,324 05 |
|
6 |
54,205 98 |
6,906 82 |
3,186 09 |
57,926 71 |
|
7 |
88,324 80 |
4,160 24 |
2,519 94 |
89,965 10 |
|
8 |
74,402 83 |
4,913 63 |
2 651 75 |
76,664 71 |
|
9 |
55,761 73 |
6,394 88 |
6,701 66 |
55,454 95 |
|
10 |
38,148 99 |
3,701 32 |
1,266 39 |
40,583 92 |
|
11 |
22,625 24 |
4.573 27 |
4,641 73 |
22,556 78 |
|
12 |
37,973 28 |
17,729 07 |
8,727 20 |
46,975 15 |
|
12 |
2,565 14 |
l,n65 69 |
524 60 |
3,106 23 |
|
13 |
24,933 73 |
2,604 85 |
325 51 |
27,213 07 |
|
14 |
48,291 40 |
3,315 27 |
1,001 02 |
50,605 65 |
|
15 |
127,329 30 |
7,360 47 |
5,867 79 |
128,821 98 |
|
16 |
69,194 97 |
15,668 94 |
20,173 56 |
64,690 35 |
|
« |
5,847 99 |
1,614 59 |
2,074 00 |
5,3-8 58 |
|
« |
556 33 |
138 54 |
178 70 |
516 17 |
|
« |
10,575 87 |
3,273 24 |
4,267 13 |
9,581 98 |
|
17 |
61,579 33 |
12,582 21 |
11,741 32 |
62,420 22 |
|
$1,372,285 78 |
i $120,396 82 |
$87,756 99 |
$1,404,925 61 |
|
|
120,396 82 |
||||
|
Spp^ific , |
1 371 125 10 |
|||
|
$1,492,682 6(1 |
i Partial assessing tax . . |
. ’ l|l60 68 |
||
|
87,756 99 |
i |
|||
|
tnv |
, $1,372,285 78 |
|||
|
$1,404,925 61 |
259
[Doc. No. 40.
Comptroller’s Office, ) September 16, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Board of Supervisors of the City and County of New York :
The Comptroller respectfully presents for your considera¬ tion the annexed resolutions, embracing the several amounts which are authorized to be levied by tax for the expenditures of the year 1841. He also submits a schedule of the appro¬ priations for the year, by which it will appear that the full amount authorized must be imposed, unless a great reduc¬ tion in the ratio of expenditure for the remainder of the year is to be effected. For the payment of the claims of contrac- to s, assumed by the Corporation, and amounting to ninety thousand dollars, due October 1st, this year, no provision has been made, nor indeed is there any authority to raise the same by tax. Without this item, the aggregate amount authorized and necessary to be raised by tax this year, will exceed the tax of the year preceding, viz :
|
Contingent tax . Lamp tax . Watch . |
|
|
School tav . |
$1,165,000 |
|
Elections . . non |
|
|
Floating debt . Lunatic Asylum . |
|
|
Cost of levying tax . |
$1,336,000 |
$1,401,000
Doc. No. 40.]
260
A full statement of the items of expenditure to this date, with such other information as may be required, will be fur¬ nished to the Committee, to whom this communication may be referred.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
Resolved , That there shall be raised by tax on the real and personal estate of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within, the City and County of New York, to be collected, the sum of one million one hundred and sixty-five thousand dollars, and also such further sums as aforesaid as may be necessary for supplying the deficiencies of taxes, upon any and every one of the wards of this city, imposed or laid during the year one thousand eight hundred and forty, for defraying the expenses of assessing and collecting said taxes. The said taxes to be raised by virtue and in conformity with, the provisions of the Act of the Legislature of the State of New York, entitled, “ An Act to enable the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York to raise money by tax, passed May 26th, A. D., 1841.”
Resolved , That there shall be raised by tax on the estates real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within, this city, to be collected, the sum of thirty- five thousand four hundred and fifteen dollars and ten cents, being the amount of monies last appropriated by the State to the City of New York, for the support and encomagement of Common Schools in the City of New York ; said tax to be raised and collected by virtue and in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes, vol. 1, chap. 15, of Pub¬ lic Instruction, tit. 2, art. 7, sec. 117, and an Act entitled, “An Act to appropriate the income of the United States De¬ posit Fund, to the purposes of education and the diffusion of knowledge,” passed April 17th, A. D., 1838.
261
[Doc. No. 40.
Resolved , That there shall be raised by tax, on the estates real and personal of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within, this city, to be collected, a sum not exceed¬ ing four-eightieths of one per cent, of the aggregate valuations of such estates, to wit : Fifty-nine thousand dollars; said tax to be raised and collected by virtue and in pursuance of the Law of this State entitled, u An Act for the further support and extension of Common Schools in the City of New York,” in vol. 1, of the Revised Statutes, new edition, pages 482 and 483.
. Resolved, That there shall be raised by tax on the estates real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within this City, to be collected, the sum of one thousand four hundred and thirty dollars, for the support and education of eleven mutes at the New York Institution for the instruction of the Deaf and Dumb, said tax to be raised and collected by virtue of, and in pursuance of, the Law of this State, entitled “ An Act extending and supple¬ mentary to certain acts providing for the indigent deaf and dumb, within this State,” passed April 15, A. D., 1825, and for other purposes, passed April 15, 1830, and for extending former acts five years from and after the first day of May 1836, passed May 26th, 1836.
Resolved, That there shall be raised by tax on the estates real and persona], of the inhabitants of, and situated within, this city, to be collected, the sum of two hundred and forty dollars, for the payment of clothing of eleven blind persons, to wit : Mary Jane Brown, John Wool, Catherine Connell, Edward Kaniski, Mary Ann Inch, Edward Mull an, Cathe¬ rine Gilmer, Joseph W. Chadsey, Harriet Smith, B. McGow¬ an, Thomas Murphy, and Abraham Schuyle, placed in the State Institution for the Blind, by the Commissioners of the Alms House; said tax to be raised and collected by virtue, and in pursuance of, the Laws of this State of 1839, sec. 5,
Doc. No. 40.]
262
of chap. 200, entitled « An Act to extend the benefits of In¬ struction of the Blind, and for other purposes,” passed April 18th, 1839, and also the further tax of sixty dollars for pay¬ ment of clothing of three deaf and dumb persons, Peter Brown, Emily Stanton, and Catherine McMonngal, placed in the State Institution for the Deaf and Dumb, by the said Com¬ missioners, to be raised and collected by virtue, and in pur¬ suance of, the Laws of this State of 1838, chap. 244.
Resolved , That there shall also be raised by tax on the es¬ tates real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within, this city, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be raised, collected and applied, under and by virtue of an Act of the Legislature of this State, passed May 14th, 1840, in relation to the old Floating Debt of the said city.
Resolved , That there shall also be raised by tax, on the estates real and personal, of the freeholders and the inhabi¬ tants of, and situated within, this city, to be collected, the sum of fifty thousand dollars, to be raised, collected, and ap¬ plied towards defraying the expenses of holding elections in said city, under and by virtue of an Act of the Legislature of this State, passed May 26th, 1841, and also the further sum of ten thousand dollars, to be also raised as aforesaid, and collected and applied for the purpose of erecting and ex¬ tending the Alms House Building in this city, under, and pursuant to, the act last mentioned.
Resolved , That when the assessment-rolls shall have been confirmed by this Board, the Comptroller cause the same to be completed and placed in the hands of the Collectors with all possible dispatch, and that warrants be issued to such Collectors as soon as they respectively qualify.
Statement , showing amount to be raised by tax for the or¬ dinary, stated , and contingent liabilities of the Corpora¬ tion, for 1841.
|
Alms House . $ |
250,000 |
$ 250,000 |
|
Board of Health . |
5,500 |
5,500 |
|
Bonds payable . . |
630,000 |
|
|
Charges on arrears of assessments.. |
10,000 |
|
|
Charges on arrears of taxes ....... |
10,500 |
|
|
Charities . . . |
8,000 |
8,000 |
|
Cleaning docks and slips . |
10,000 |
10,000 |
|
Cleaning docks and slips, assessment |
15,000 |
|
|
Cleaning streets . . |
141,500 |
141,500 |
|
Commutation alien passengers . |
100 |
100 |
|
Contingencies . . |
34,600 |
34,600 |
|
Coroner’s fees . . . |
5,000 |
5,000 |
|
Courts . . |
40,000 |
40,000 |
|
Docks and slips . . |
65,000 |
65,000 |
|
Elections . . . . |
7,000 |
7,000 |
|
Registration of voters . . |
53,000 |
|
|
Errors and delinquencies . . |
600 |
|
|
Fencing lots . . |
10,000 |
|
|
Floating Debt redemption . |
50,000 |
|
|
Fire Indemnity redemption . |
25,000 |
|
|
Fire Department . . . . . |
55,000 |
55.000 |
|
Interest on City Stocks, &c . |
150,000 |
150,000 |
|
Intestate estates . |
1,800 |
1,800 |
|
House of Refuge . |
4,000 |
4,000 |
|
Interest on regulating streets . |
12,000 |
|
|
Interest on opening streets . |
35,000 |
|
|
Interest on wells and pumps . |
500 |
|
|
Interest on fencing lots . |
500 |
|
|
Interest on Water Loan . |
500,000 |
|
|
Justices’ Courts . |
15,000 |
15,000 |
|
Lands and places . |
10,000 |
10,000 |
|
Lamps and gas . . |
120,000 |
|
|
Levying tax . |
15,000 |
Amounts carried over.
42,289,500 $ 802,500
Doc. No. 40.]
264
|
Amounts brought forward . . |
.$2,289,500 |
$ 802,500 |
|
|
Liens on lots . |
4,000 |
||
|
Lunatic Asylum . |
30,000 |
||
|
Markets . |
14,500 |
14,500 |
|
|
Mayoralty fees . |
100 |
100 |
|
|
Real estate assessment . . |
15,000 |
15,000 |
|
|
Penalties . |
3,000 |
3,000 |
|
|
Police . |
37,500 |
37,500 |
|
|
Printing and stationery . |
20,000 |
20,000 |
|
|
Public reservoir . |
6,000 |
6,000 |
|
|
Public Schools . |
98,450 |
||
|
Expenses of School Commissioners |
500 |
||
|
Repairs and supplies . |
28,000 |
28,000 |
|
|
Roads and avenues . |
35,000 |
35,000 |
|
|
Salaries . . . . . |
60,000 |
60,000 |
|
|
Street expenses . . |
40,000 |
40,000 |
|
|
Streets regulating and paving . |
. 160,000 |
||
|
Streets opening . |
. 130,000 |
||
|
Streets opening assessment fund. . . |
. . 400,000 |
||
|
Tavern and excise licenses. . . |
1,200 |
1,200 |
|
|
Water Loan, &c . . |
. 2,000,000 |
||
|
Water pipes . . |
, . 500,000 |
||
|
Watch . . . . . . . |
. 234,000 |
||
|
Wells and pumps . . |
6,000 |
||
|
Street Commissioner’s Department |
17,500 |
17,500 |
|
|
$6,130,250 |
$1,080,300 |
||
|
Revenue off |
250,000 |
||
|
$ |
830,300 |
||
|
Proposed appropriations . |
14,760 |
||
|
$ |
845,060 |
||
|
Contingencies . . . . < |
.$ 8,000 |
||
|
Liens on lots . . |
. 3,000 |
||
|
Lands and places . . |
. 2,000 |
||
|
Tax Collectors’ commissions . . . |
. 1,760 |
114,760
DOCUMENT No. 41
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOVEMBER 29, 1841.
Communication from the Counsel of the Corporation, en¬ closing the Opinion of the Supreme Court on the return to the Quo Warranto against the Aldermen, sitting as Judges of the Court of General Sessions; and also in the Application of Judge Lynch, for a Mandamus, to com¬ pel the payment of his Salary. Adopted.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The undersigned has the honor of communicating to the Common Council the annexed Opinions of the Honorable the Justices of the Supreme Court, on the return to the Q,uo Warranto against the Aldermen of the City of New York, sitting as Judges of the Court of General Sessions; and also their opinion on the application of Judge Lynch, for a pe¬ remptory mandamus against the Board of Supervisors, to compel the payment of his salary.
The question which has given rise to these opinions, so vitally concerns the ppwer of the City Government under its
Doc. No. 41.]
266
Charter, and the power of the Legislature over the Charter, as limited by the Constitution, that the undersigned has no hesitation in recommending that the decision in relation to the constitutionality of the Criminal Court Bill be submitted to the Court of last resort for final adjudication.
Respectfully submitted.
P. A. COWDREY.
OPINIONS
Of the Honorable the Justices of the Supreme Court, on the Quo Warranto against the Aldermen of the City of New York , sitting as Judges of the Court of General Sessions.
The People / Willis Hall, Attorney General , for v. > Plaintiffs.
E. F. Purdy. ) Peter A. Cowdrey, for Defendants.
Bronson, J. The Charter granted by Governor Mont¬ gomery to the City of New York, on the 15th January, 1730, authorized the Aldermen of the City, with certain other offi¬ cers, to hold and keep Courts of General Sessions of the Peace, in and for the City and County of New York ; and in pursuance of that Charter, and several legislative enact¬ ments passed since that time, the Aldermen have sat in the Courts of General Sessions of the Peace in New York for the last one hundred and ten years. On the 14th of May, 1840, an Act was passed “for the better organization of the Criminal Courts in the City and County of New York,” the first section of which was in the following words: — “ The Court of General Sessions in the City and County of New York shall hereafter be held, and all the powers thereof ex¬ ercised, by the Recorder of the City of New York and two Judges to be appointed by the Governor and Senate, who shall be called and known as the Associate Judges of the Court of General Sessions of the City and County of New York.” Stat. 1840, p. 25 7, § 1. The 14th section repeals certain provisions of the Revised Statutes, a single section of the Act of 1833, “and all other Acts and parts of Acts in¬ consistent with the provisions” of the law of 1840. This repealing clause is confined to legislative enactments, and is not broad enough to reach the Charter of 1730. But the
Doc. No. 41.]
268
first section necessarily excludes the Aldermen from the Court of General Sessions, and thus indirectly reaches and annuls a portion of the Charter. The language of the sec¬ tion is, that the Court “shall hereafter be held, and all the powers therof exercised,” by the Recorder and two Judges to be appointed by the Governor and Senate. This language is, 1 think, broad enough to work a repeal, by implication, of that clause in the Charter of 1730 which authorizes the Al¬ dermen to sit in the Court of General Sessions.
The power of the Legislature to alter the Charters of pub¬ lic corporations without their consent — provided rights of property are not affected — cannot be doubted. Cities and vil¬ lages exercise certain powers of government — a portion of the sovereign power of the State — within a limited district. Such privileges cannot, from their very nature, be the subject of in¬ alienable grant. They may be recalled at pleasure. Whether the Act of 1840 was a wise or politic exercise of the legisla¬ tive power, is a question with which we have nothing to do.
The Legislature has the same power over corporations created by Royal Charter prior to the Revolution, that it has over corporations created by the Legislature since that time.
The Constitution gives no new force to grants made by the Kings of Great Britain, whether of lands or of corpo¬ rate franchises. It merely provides, that those grants should not be affected or annulled by the Revolution and the new fundamental law of the State. Const. 1777, s. XXXVI. ; 1821, Art. VII. s. XIV. I do not suppose that this provi¬ sion was at all necessary. It seems to have been adopted, originally, for more abundant caution, and to quiet the ap¬ prehensions of those who were possessed of lands or corpo¬ rate privileges held under authority of the British Crown ; and it was continued in the Constitution of 1821 for the pur¬ pose of avoiding any implication against the validity of those grants which might arise from the omission of the clause in the new fundamental law. But whether the provision was a necessary one or not, it goes no further than to declare,
269
[Doc. No. 41.
that nothing contained in the Constitution “shall annul any Charters to bodies politic and corporate and cannot be construed as giving any new sanction to those grants, or limiting in any degree the power of the Legislature over them.
But it is said that the Act of 1840 did not receive the as¬ sent of two-thirds of the members elected to each branch of the Legislature, and consequently that it is not a valid law. Const. Art. VII. s. IX. The feet that it did not have the votes of two-thirds of the members, was conceded by the Attorney General on the argument; and we see from the journals that only half of the Senators, and less than half of the members elected to the Assembly voted for the bill on its final passage. Senate Journ. 1840, p. 123-4. Assembly J 1840, p. 1466. How a question like this shall be tried, or whether it can be tried at all when a bill has gone through all the usual forms of legislation, are questions which were not considered in the case of Thomas v. Dakin, 22 Wend. 9. They are now presented to this Court for the first time.
It has not been decided that the Judicial Tribunals of the State may, in some way, look beyond the printed Statute Book, for the purposeof ascertaining whether bills coming within the two-thirds clause of the Constitution have received the requi¬ site number of votes : and although I have felt a good deal of difficulty on that question, 1 am inclined to the opinion that such an inquiry may be instituted. The question is no doubt one of great delicacy, but if the Courts have the right to en¬ tertain it, the duty is imperative, and we are not at liberty to shrink from its performance. We live under a government of laws, reaching as well to the Legislative, as to the other branches of the government ; and if we wish to uphold and perpetuate free institutions, we must maintain a vigilant watch against all encroachments of power, whether arising from mistake or design, and from whatever source they may proceed. The Constitution is explicit in its terms, and in a particular class of cases upon which the Legislature may
Do©. No. 41.]
270
act, it denies to a bare majority of members the power which in other cases they undeniably possess. To give efficiency to this provision, and sequre the people against the exercise of powers which they have not granted, we must, I think, when called on to do so, look beyond the printed Statute Book, and inquire whether bills creating or altering corpora¬ tions have received the requisite number of votes.
Statute laws may be read in evidence, either from the State Paper, or from the volumes published by the State Printer. 1 R. 8. 183, 4, § 8, 12. It is also enacted that “ no bill shall be deemed to have been passed by the assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each house, unless so certified by the presiding officer of each House.” 1 R. 8. 156, § 3. To give full effect to this enactment, and provide a convenient mode of ascertaining whether the two-thirds clause in the Constitution has been duly observed, the laws should be published with all the usual evidence of their au¬ thenticity. The certificates of the presiding officers of the two Houses, and the approval of the Governor should be published as well as the body of the law. But as such has not been the practice, I have examined the original engrossed bill on file in the Secretary’s office, and find that the Act of 1840 is only certified by the presiding officers in the usual form of certifying majority bills. If this is not conclusive, it is at least prima facie evidence, and, following the Sta¬ tute, this bill cannot be “ deemed to have passed by the as¬ sent of two-thirds of the members elected to each House.”
This brings us to the question whether the act of 1840, is such an one as required a two-thirds vote. That the City of New York, is a body politic and corporate , and that the act of 1840, if duly passed, alters the Charter, ate proposi¬ tions that have not been, and cannot be denied. But it is said, that the Constitution does not extend to public corpo¬ rations, and therefore a majority vote was sufficient. I do not so read the Constitution. The language of the clause is, “ the assent of two-thirds of the members elected to each
271
[Doc. No. 41.
branch of the Legislature, shall be requisite to every bill cre¬ ating, continuing, altering, or renewing any body politic or corporate.” These words are as broad in their signification as any which could have been selected for the occasion from our vocabulary; and there is not a syllable in the whole in¬ strument tending in the slightest degree to limit or qualify the universality of the language. If the clause can be so construed that it shall not extend alike to all corporations, whether public or private, it may then, I think, be set down as an established fact, that the English language is too poor for the framing of fundamental laws which shall limit the powers of the legislative branch of the government.
No one has, I believe, pretended that the Constitution, looking at that alone, can be restricted to any particular class or description of corporations. But it is said that we may look beyond the instrument for the purpose of ascertain¬ ing the mischief against which the clause was directed, and thus restrict its operation. But who shall tell us what that mischief was ? Although most men in public life are old enough to remember the time when the Constitution was framed and adopted, they are not agreed concerning the par¬ ticular evil against which this clause was directed. Some suppose the clause was intended to guard against legislative corruption, and others that it was aimed at monopolies. Some are of opinion that it only extends to private, without touching public corporations ; while others suppose that it only restricts the power of the Legislature when creating a single corporation, and not when they are made by the hun¬ dred. In this way a solemn instrument, for so I think the Constitution should be considered, is made to mean one thing by one man, and something else by another, until in the end it is in danger of being rendered a mere dead letter; and that too, where the language is so plain and explicit, that it is impossible to make it mean more than one thing, unless we first lose sight of the instrument itself, and allow our¬ selves to roam at large in the boundless field of speculation.
Doc. No. 41.]
272
For one, I dare not venture upon such a course. Written Constitutions of Government will soon come to be regarded as of little value, if their injunctions may be thus lightly overlooked ; and the experiment of setting a boundary to power will prove a failure.
We are not at liberty to presume that the framers of the Constitution, or the people who adopted it, did not under¬ stand the force of language. They knew that we had al¬ ready both public and private corporations, and that others of both kinds would afterwards be wanted. And when they declared that the assent of two-thirds of the members should be requisite to every bill creating or altering any body poli¬ tic or corporate, they could have intended nothing less than that the provision should extend alike to all It is very likely that they thought some corporations more injurious, or at least, of more unquestionable utility than others. But they did not attempt to specify or describe, but used the most general and comprehensive language. The only just infer¬ ence to be drawn from such premises is, that the provision was made thus broad for the very purpose of preventing its being frittered away by interpretations and constructions. By including all, they inevitably intended that one class of corporations should not escape through a saving clause in¬ tended for another.
It is, I think, fair to presume that the framers of the Con¬ stitution, when they employed this general language, reason¬ ed somewhat in this way, “if public corporations, or corpo¬ rate bodies of any other kind, ought to be created almost as a matter of course, and if they do not seek to obtain any questionable powers, there will then be no difficulty in ob¬ taining a two-thirds vote ; and consequently no harm can be done by making the provision broad enough to include all.”
But we are not left to conjecture on this subject. When this clause came up for consideration in the Convention, the very objection was taken to it, that it extended to public as well as to private corporations, and it was proposed to amend
273
[Doc. No. 41.
by inserting after the word “any,” the words « bank or mo¬ nied institution in this state,” thus limiting it to a particular class of corporations. Mr. Radclitf prefaced the amendment by the remark, that as the clause stood it would « require two-thirds of the Legislature to incorporate a village , bridge or turnpike.” To which it was answered, that “ two-thirds would never be wanting to incorporate a village or a turn¬ pike ;” and thereupon the amendment was withdrawn, and the original proposition adopted by unanimous consent. Carter and Stone , Debates in Conv. p. 446. We have here the most unequivocal proof, evidence which no man can fail to see, wink as hard as he will, that the framers of the Con¬ stitution meant precisely what they said. While it was con¬ ceded that some corporations were more objectionable than others, they made the provision general ; and this was done to the end that the clause might most certainly reach those of doubtful utility. While they agreed, and that too, unani¬ mously, that the clause extended to public as well as to pri¬ vate corporations, they refused to except any, because such as ought to be created would find no difficulty in obtaining the requisite number of votes.
We have here .not only the unequivocal language of the Constitution itself, but the declared will of the framers of that instrument in another form, both forbidding us to except public, or any other corporations from the influence of the clause; and this fundamental law has not yet been repealed, unless it has been brought about without the consent of the people who adopted it. I will not inquire whether the pro¬ vision be a good or a bad one. Whatever may be my views on that subject, I am not at liberty to set up my opinion against the declared will of the people as manifested in the supreme law of the land. If we may get round this clause of the Constitution because it stands in our way, or we do not like it, we may in the same manner get round any other clause in that instrument ; and thus all hope of fixing the
Doc. No. 41.]
274
boundaries of power by written constitutions will be at an end.
It is said that this Court has decided that the clause in question does not extend to public corporations. If the re¬ mark were well founded it would be far from being conclu¬ sive. When it is considered that a vast amount of business is constantly pressing on the Judges, it can be no matter of astonishment that they should sometimes fall into error. If they have made a mistake upon this or any other question, it should not be regarded as a fatal error. The decision may not only be reviewed in another form, but the Judges will, I trust, always be ready to retrace their steps when they find themselves occupying untenable ground.
But this Court has never decided that the Constitution did not extend to public corporations. Although one of the Judges has intimated such an opinion, it was not necessarily involved in the case under consideration ; and I need hardly say, that neither the Court, nor the Judge who delivers the opinion, is responsible for any thing more than the conclu¬ sion at which he arrives. The case to which we are referred is the People vs. Morris, 13 Wend. 325. Now, in the first place, it did not appear in that case, nor did the Court in any way inform itself, that the Revised Statutes, which prohibit grocers from selling spirituous liquors to be drank on their premises, had not been passed by a two-thirds vote. So far as then appeared, or as we are now informed, the statute had as many votes as would be necessary to create or alter a body corporate of any kind whatever. In the next place the statute then in question did not touch the village of Ogdensburgh alone, or any other corporation in particular.. On the con¬ trary, it was a. general statute, regulating the internal policy of the State ; and, with a single exception, it extended alike to every city, town, and village, and every citizen within our limits. Corporate privileges were only touched inciden¬ tally, in the same way that tax laws and other general sta¬ tutes reach all persons, whether natural or artificial. This
275
[Doc. No. 41.
was the reason primarily assigned by the present Chief Jus¬ tice for the judgment which was rendered in that case ; and it was wholly unnecessary to go farther, and inquire whether the Constitution extended to public corporations.
The difference between a general excise law, extending alike to the whole State , and a law touching the charter of a single city , is too manifest to require any illustration. Legislative precedents have been referred to in support of the position that the Constitution does not extend to public corporations. Although these may not always furnish the most safe guide on a question of this kind, I do not regret that legislative precedents have been mentioned, for if I am not greatly mistaken it will be found, that, with one or two exceptions occurring in 1840, there is an unbroken current of legislative authority against the doctrine in question, from the adoption of the Constitution down to the present day. Since the first day of March, 1822, when the two- thirds clause in the Constitution took effect, some hundreds of statutes creating or altering the charters of public corpo¬ rations, have been passed; and with the exception already 'suggested, I hazard little in saying, that not one of those sta¬ tutes has been passed without a two-thirds vole in both houses. I cannot now command the time to search the jour¬ nals. nor look into the Secretary’s office, but as an attentive observer of the course of legislation for the last nineteen years, I feel great confidence that the remark already made will turn out to be well founded. Down to the time that the case of The People vs. Morris was decided, it was never, I think, even suggested in the legislature that a two-thirds vote was not necessary to create or alter a public corpora¬ tion ; and since that time, although the point has been re¬ peatedly made, it has as often been decided against the doc¬ trine now set up.
I will mention one precedent, because the State paper of the first of March last, in which it may be found, happens to lie before me. The Speaker of the present House of Assem-
Doc. No. 41.]
276
bly decided, that a bill to amend the charter of the village of Oswego required the assent of two-thirds of all the members elected for its passage; and he said this was in accordance with the whole current of decisions since the adoption of the Constitution. On appeal, the case of The People vs. Morris was cited, and after the whole matter had been debated at large, the decision of the Speaker was sustained by a vote o^ 89 to 13 — nearly seven to one. I mention the numbers for the purpose of showing that it was not a political division, for decisions of that kind are entitled to no great weight in courts of justice. These legislative precedents are entitled to the more consideration from the fact, that they are dis¬ claimers of power, such as public bodies do not usually make where there is any fair and reasonable ground for maintain¬ ing their authority.
The Revised Statutes declare, that “ each town as a body corporate, has capacity to sue and be sued,” &c., and the same language is employed in relation to counties. 1 R. S. 337, 364. Now, until it appear that these laws were not passed by a two thirds vote, a fact that I never heard sug¬ gested, they obviously prove nothing to the present purpose* But again, although towns and counties have certain capaci¬ ties 11 as" or like “a body corporate,” they are only quasi corporations. They are not those artificial persons which either lawyers or laymen call corporations. The trustees of gospel and school lots, and the superintendents of the poor, are also spoken of as corporations. 1 R. S. 498, 617. But although they have certain corporate capacities, they are not corporations in the proper sense of the term. They have some of the attributes of a corporation, and so have the com¬ missioners of the canal fund, and of the land office, the canal board, the board of canal commissioners, the commissioners of highways in towns, and trustees of school districts ; but they are not corporations proper. And here I will repeat the remark already made in relation to towns and counties, that it does not appear, nor have I ever heard it suggested, that the
277
[Doc. No. 41.
statutes relating to the trustees of gospel and school lots, and the superintendents of the poor were not passed by two-thirds votes. Until that fact appears, it is impossible to use these enactments as legislative precedents in favor of the doctrine that the Constitution does not extend to public corporations.
We have, then, in this cas e, first, the Constitution itself, so explicit in its terms that the wit of man cannot so construe it but that it will extend to public as well as private corpora¬ tions: second, the declared intention of the framers of that instrument, manifested in another form, to include all corpo¬ rations, and a refusal on their part to make a restricted pro¬ vision ; and third, with only one or two exceptions, an un¬ broken current of legislative authority, from the adoption ot the Constitution down to the present day, in support of the position that the clause in question extends to public as well as to private corporations. Surely, this should be enough to settle the question.
The inquiry whether the Constitution extends to all cor¬ porations, happens to be presented for the first time in a case of no great public interest. For aught I know, the law ex¬ cluding the Aldermen from the Court of General Sessions may be a good one. But that cannot alter the principle in¬ volved in the case, which is one of more than ordinary im¬ portance. If the Legislature can limit the powers of a pub¬ lic corporation by a majority vote, they may also enlarge those powers, or make an original creation by the like vote • for “creating, continuing, altering” and “renewing” all stand on the same footing in the Constitution. Although the claim of the Aldermen may be one of no great moment, I deem it vastly important that the Constitution should be so read and upheld that the people will have no just cause to apprehend that the fundamental law is lightly regarded by those to whom they have committed important public trusts.
I do not see how we can avoid passing upon the constitu¬ tional question. Whether the power to hold Courts ough ever to be_conferred upon corporation officers, is not the pro-
Doc. No. 41.]
278
per inquiry. It was expressly granted by the Charter of 1730, and was conferred on the Corporation by name as a part of its franchise.* It is as much a part of the chartered privileges of the city as is the power granted by the same Charter to establish markets, make by-laws, and regulate the internal police of the city. How the power of the Aider- men can be taken away without altering the Charter I am unable to comprehend. If the Act of 1840 does not exclude the Aldermen from the Courts of General Sessions, there has then been no usurpation, and the defendant is entitled to judgment on that ground. If the Act of 1840 does exclude the Aldermen, it is because it alters the Charter of the City under which they hold their seats in the Courts of General Sessions; and then as the Act did not receive the requisite number of votes, it is void, and the defendant is entitled to judgment upon that ground.
In my opinion this information is not well grounded. But my brethren, while they agree with me on most of the ques¬ tions which have been considered, have arrived at a diffe¬ rent conclusion.
* Sec. 26. 11 And further, we, of our special grace, ’certain knowledge, and mear motion, have given, granted, ratified and confirmed, and by these presents do, for us, our heirs and successors, give, grant, ratify and confirm unto the said Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, and to their successors forever ,” “that they, the said Mayor, Deputy Mayor, Recorder and Aldermen of the said City, for the time being, or any four or more of them, (whereof we will the Mayor, or Deputy Mayor, or Recorder of the said city for the time being, to be one,) shall and may forever hereafter, hold and keep four courts of general sessions of the peace in and for the said city and county of New York, to begin,” &c.
Cowen J. I have thought a good deal upon the question of legislative power discussed by Mr. Justice Bronson, and perceive difficulties in it which I had not anticipated before I heard his opinion. Were I clear that the power of Alderman Purdy to sit as a Judge in the Court of General Sessions might be considered strictly a corporate right within Art. 7,
279
[Doc. No. 41.
$ 9, of the Constitution, whether such right were public or private, I might require still farther time; or perhaps assent at once to the conclusion that the act of 1840 did not atfect his power for want of a two-thirds vote. Such a vote is re¬ quired for altering any body 'politic or corporate , and if the act had sought to abolish the office of Alderman or diminish his powers as declared by the Charter of the city, I need not say, after the opinion I have heard, that there Would be strong reasons for considering the acta nullity. Under such a view of the question, I should feel much embarrassed by the conflicting state of opinion in this Court and elsewhere. But here is no attempt by statute to abolish the office of Al¬ derman or diminish his power. The Board of Aldermen are an integral part of the Corporation, (Sess. Laws of 1830, p. 125,) having, as such, certain legislative, executive, and it may be admitted, though this is doubtful, certain judicial powers. By the Charter or an Act of the Legislature, it was also thought proper to confer, not on the Board, but the Al¬ dermen as individual officers, the power to act as Judges of the General Sessions of the peace : (2 R. S. 145, § 42, 2d ed.) a court having, in its own nature, no connection with the Corporation, and the power of the court itself not being a corporate power or anything like it. This is the power which the act of 1840, (Sess. Laws 1840, p. 257, § 1,) has taken away. The case is the same as if the Legislature had first declared that the Aldermen for the time being, should be Vice Chancellors ; or should compose an inferior court of equity ; and then after an election had intervened, another statute had abolished their chancery powers, and transferred them to three gentlemen of the city to be appointed by the Governor and Senate. My opinion is, that the latter statute would not be the altering of a body politic or corporate, with¬ in the language or meaning of the two-thirds clause in the Constitution. The whole would be but the conferring and taking away of the power to hold a court of justice. It is no more a corporate power because annexed to persons de-
280
Doc. No. 41.]
signated as holding the office of Aldermen, than if they had been called by their proper names.
In this view the passing of the act of 1840, was not an attempt to alter a body politic or corporate, but the exercise of another legislative power entirely distinct the power to take jurisdiction away from one court and transfer it to another. This, I am of opinion, can always be done by a majority vote, though the Judges from whom the power is taken may be designated by the same title as they are known by when mentioned as an integral part of a corporation. In short, the statute does not attempt any action upon corporate power.
I am of opinion that judgment of ouster should be render¬ ed against the defendant.
The Chief Justice was of the same opinion for the rea¬ sons expressed in People v. Morris, 13 Wend. 325.
The People,
v.
Nathaniel Jarvis.
Judgment for the People.
The same question and same judg ment.
Resolved , That the Opinions of the Judges of the Su¬ preme Court, on the return to the Q.uo Warranto against the Aldermen, sitting as Judges of the Court of General Ses¬ sions, be entered at full length in the minutes of this Board, and be printed as a Document.
Resolved , That the Counsel of the Corporation be, and he is hereby instructed to bring a Writ of Error upon the judg¬ ment of the Supreme Court in the above cause.
By Moses G. Leonard.
OPINION
On the Application of Judge Lynch for a Peremptory Mandamus , to compel the Payment of his Salary.
Ex parte ) James Lynch, in person.
Lynch. $ P. A. Cowdrey, for the Board of Supervisors.
COWEN, Justice.
This Court of General Sessions was sought to be organ¬ ized by the act of May 14th, 1840, Sess. Laws, p. 257. It was to be holden by the Recorder and two Associates, and a salary of $2,000 was appointed for each Associate Judge, to •be paid by the Common Council out of the city treasury, iu quarterly payments, § 5. The Common. Council refused to pay these salaries ; and on a motion by the present relator for a writ of mandamus, we declined to interfere, mainly on the ground that he had an adequate remedy by action ; -May 3, 1841, M. S. Then came the act of May 26th, 1841, Sess. Laws, p. 267, § 4, by which the Mayor, Recorder, and Aider- men of the City, as Supervisors of the City and County of New York, are directed to audit and allow the Judges’ ac¬ counts for arrears of salary on or before the 10th day of July thereafter; and after that time quarterly, as such salaries might become due.
This latter provision presents the ordinary case of a spe¬ cific duty imposed by statute on the Board of Supervisors of a County ; and there would be no difficulty in granting the writ now, were it not for the objections that the statute cre¬ ating the Court was not passed with the concurrence of two- thirds of the members elected to the Legislature, and that if this were not necessary, the relator still has his remedy by action.
The first question has been before us, and was determined 3
Doc. No. 41.]
282
in favor of the relator at the present term in The People vs. Purdy.
But independently of the constitutional question, I am in¬ clined to think, that, in order to warrant our interference by mandamus, the act of 1841 should have taken away the re¬ medy by action against the Corporation, which we held re¬ sulted from the act of 1840. It is said that in authorizing a remedy by audit and allowance through the Supervisors, the right to an action is merged. I think not. The additional remedy is not incompatible with the right of action. It is cumulative, and therefore I do not see that the force of the objection before allowed is at all diminished.
It may be true that an action against the Mayor, Recorder, &c. as Supervisors, for refusing to audit and allow, would not be considered such a remedy as to supersede that by man¬ damus. Bronson J. in McCullogh vs. Mayor, &c. of Brook¬ lyn, 23 Wend. 461. But where there is a plain and adequate remedy by action for the party aggrieved, the writ of manda¬ mus does not lie. I am not aware of any exception to this rule.
Motion denied, without costs.
DOCUMENT No. 42.
BOARD OF ALDERME N,
NOVEMBER 29, 1841.
Alderman Leonard “presented the following Preamble and Resolution , which was laid on the table.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Whereas, the Croton Aqueduct now being nearly com¬ pleted, especially that portion being without the jurisdiction of the Corporate Authorities of this City, which required the superintendence of Commissioners empowered with legisla¬ tive functions by the State Government ; and
Whereas, that portion now unfinished being within the limits of the City of New York, and as the expense of the same is to be borne by the people of said city, through their representatives in the Common Council; therefore,
Resolved, That the Counsel of the Board be directed to prepare a memorial to the Honorable the Legislature, respect-
Doc. No. 42.]
284
fully requesting, in behalf of the Common Council, that the office of Water Commissioners be forthwith abol ished, and that the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of this City be au¬ thorized to control and direct the construction and comple¬ tion of the said Aqueduct, and all the works connected therewith.
DOCUMENT No. 43,
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
NOVEMBER 24, 1841.
Communication from the Counsel of the Corporation , en¬ closing the Opinion of the Supreme Court on the returns to Certioraris in Street Cases ; and also in relation to the Remedies for the Collection of Assessments. Or¬ dered to be printed and filed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The undersigned has the honor of communicating to the Common Council the annexed opinion of the Supreme Court, in the cases of James Agnew and Eben Meriam, involving the proceedings of the Corporation in the cases of the sewer in Chapel street, and the regrading of Chapel street.
He has also the honor of communicating, that in all the cases in which applications have been made for certioraris to review the proceedings of the Corporation for errors alleged, the applications have either been denied, or, upon a return of the whole proceedings, the certioraris have been quashed. And that by the late decisions of the Chancellor, and of the
Doc.’ No. 43.]
286
Vice Chancellor of the First Circuit, in the several cases in which injunctions have been issued by the Assistant Tice Chancellor, to restrain the sales for assessments, now in pro¬ gress, all of the said injunctions have been dissolved.
In most of the certiorari cases costs have been denied. In the Chancery suits the final decrees have not yet been ob¬ tained.
In the examinations of the subjects above referred to, which the undersigned has been called upon to make, it has ap¬ peared to him that the policy of the law was, in all cases, to put the Corporation in funds for the improvements which they might undertake for the public benefit, before they should incur any expenditures. The assessments are, in all cases, made payable long before the awards become due. The remedies provided by the statute for the collection of these assessments, are three-fold — by a distress warrant up¬ on the goods and chattels of the owner, or party interested, who is assessed ; by action of debt or assumpsit, or by the sale of the premises assessed. The latter has been the mode usually resorted to ; and the consequence has been, occa¬ sioned by the necessary delay in preparing for the sale and the time for advertisement, that the City Treasury has al¬ ways been in advance for these expenditures, and in some instances for a great length of time.
The undersigned is unable to perceive why the more prompt remedy by levy upon the goods of the owners should not be resorted to.
In many instances, the owners have complained that they have lost their property by a sale, of which they have had no notice ; and in this way, many cases of very great hard¬ ship have occurred. A levy upon the property of the owner will, of necessity, give him direct notice. And if it be con¬ sidered the duty of the Corporation to collect their dues, for the purpose of meeting the demands against them, the most prompt, and at the same time, most harmless remedies should be resorted to. In view of these considerations, and espe-
287
[Doc. No. 43.
daily as the proceedings of the Corporation to collect the assessments have, as yet, withstood every ordeal, notwith¬ standing the original improvements may not, in some in¬ stances, have realized expectations, and against which oppo¬ sition should have been directed, the undersigned has felt it to be his duty to advise the Comptroller and the Street Com¬ missioner, hereafter, in all cases in which it is practicable, and after giving full and repeated notice, to proceed to col¬ lect the taxes and assessments due to the city, by levying a distress warrant, instead of selling the real estate.
The undersigned also communicates to the Common Council, that in all cases of sales for assessments, where pro¬ ceedings have been instituted to prevent purchasers from obtaining their leases, in which the Corporation have been impleaded, on the ground of alleged informalities, he has put in one united defence for the Corporation and the pur¬ chaser, deeming such to be his duty, especially as the ex¬ pense was not thereby increased.
The undersigned has the honor of submitting this com¬ munication to the Common Council, that they may be^ept informed of the proceedings of their officers, and that if wrong, they may be corrected.
Respectfully submitted.
P. A. COWDREY,
OPINION
OF THE COURT IN THE CHAPEL STREET CASE.
SUPREME COURT.
The People ex rel. James Agnew et al,
vs. i
The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York.
This case arose on the return of the defendants to a certi¬ orari, heretofore issued on the application of the relators, in relation to the proceedings in the construction of a sewer in Chapel street. The points that were raised sufficiently ap¬ pear in the opinion of the Court.
L. H. Sandford and William M. Holland for the Relators.
P. A. Cowdrey for the Defendants.
Bronson, J. The writ of certiorari, when issued for the purpose of enabling this Court to exercise its supervisory power over inferior tribunals, removes nothing but the re¬ cord — or other entry in the nature of a record — of the proceedings in the Court below,; and if the return contains any thing more, it cannot be regarded. The record is ex¬ amined to see whether the subordinate tribunal has kept within the limits of its jurisdiction: but we cannot look be¬ yond it for the purpose of a review on the merits. Such is the settled doctrine of this Court, and it disposes of several of the questions which have been made by the relators. The
[Doc. No. 43.
return in this case contains nothing in the nature of a re¬ cord, beyond the ordinance for constructing the sewer, the estimate and assessment made by the persons appointed for that purpose, and the confirmation of the assessment by the Common Council. Those are the only documents upon which any question can properly be made.
Most, if not all, of the objections urged against these pro¬ ceedings admit of a satisfactory answer; but I shall not give them a particular examination, for the reason, that I think the certiorari ought not to be issued ; and that, should some of the points happen to be well taken, it is the writ, and not the proceedings, which ought to be quashed.
The powers exercised by the Common Council of the City of New York are, for the most part, either legislative, exe¬ cutive, or ministerial; and a certiorari only lies to inferior Courts and officers who exercise judicial powers. If it were not for a few modern cases, I should be of opinion that we have no authority to supervise in this way the acts, ordi¬ nances and proceedings of the Corporation of the City of New York, or indeed of any other Corporation, public or private. I have searched in vain for a precedent for such a course in the land of the common law; and the first case I have met with any where, in which a certiorari was awarded to a corporation for the pupose of reviewing its proceedings, is that of Le Roy vs. the Mayor, $*c., of New York, 20 John. 430; and there, the grounds on which the writ usu¬ ally issues, rather than the inquiry whether it would lie to a corporation, was the question discussed at the bar and con¬ sidered by the Court. See, also, Parks vs. the Mayor , <$*c. of Boston , 8 Pick. 218. All our city, and many of our village, corporations have been vested with very large powers within their respective limits; and if a certiorari will lie to remove into this Court an ordinance for constructing a sewer it is difficult to see where we can stop, short of reviewing all their acts in the same way, which looks to me like a great stretch of jurisdiction.
Doe. No. 43.]
290
Bat if a certiorari will lie, it does not follow that it should be awarded in every case where the relator may have some ground for complaint. The allowance of the writ rests in the sound discretion of the Court, and it has often been de¬ nied where the power to issue it was unquestionable, and where there was apparent error in the proceedings to be re¬ viewed. And if it has been improperly awarded, it is not too late to correct the error after a return and hearing on the merits. The People vs. Supervisors of Alleghany , 15 Wend. 198. And see The People vs. Supervisors of Queens, February, 1841.
There are, I think, few, if any, cases where an ordinance or assessment for constructing a common sewer, or making any other city improvement, should be removed into this court by certiorari. It is better that persons having cause for complaint should be left to such redress as they may have by action. The case falls within the principle of those which have just been cited ; and in the first of those cases a certio¬ rari which had been issued to remove an assessment for county charges was quashed after a return and a hearing on the merits ; and there too, the relator had no other remedy. Great public inconvenience must necessarily ensue, if we at¬ tempt in this way to review assessments for city improve¬ ments, which are not unfrequently as extensive in their in¬ fluence as assessments for county taxes. The principle ob¬ jections which have been urged against these proceedings are, first, that the ordinance for constructing the sewer is void, because it does not appear affirmatively, that the ayes and nays were called on taking the vote upon it in the two Boards. Secondly : That the order confirming the assess¬ ment is void, for the same reason. Thirdly : That the con¬ firmation could only be made by the whole Corporation as¬ sembled in one body, and not by the Common Council in two Boards, as organized under the act of 1830 : and fourth¬ ly : That no confirmation appears — there being no ordinance
291 [Doc. No."43.
or resolution for that purpose, but only an extract from the minutes of the Common Council.
Now, without considering what answers there may be to these objections, they seem to prove too much for this form of remedy. If the points are well taken, there has been no ordinance for constructing the sewer, nor has the assessment ever been confirmed, and there is nothing to be reached by the certiorari. If the relators have suffered under color of proceedings which never had any legal existence, their re¬ medy is by action. All the other questions which arise upon the record — and we cannot look beyond it — may, for aught I see, be as well tried in some other form as in that which the relators have selected, and we shall do them no harm by withholding this extraordinary remedy. I must not be un¬ derstood as intimating that a certiorari should be allowed whenever the question can be reached in no other form. There may be many cases where the public inconvenience which would be likely to result from this mode of review, would greatly outweigh the importance of correcting some legal, though, perhaps not very grievous error in the pro¬ ceedings.
The relators in- this case, have taken no objection which is not equally applicable to all the other persons who have been taxed, and the whole assessment must stand or fall to¬ gether. It is also important to notice that the ordinance for making the improvement was passed, the work done, and the assessment made and confirmed more than three years before the certiorari was sued out. The time of bringing a writ of error from a final judgment is limited by law to two years ; and I think a case can rarely happen where it would be proper to allow a certiorari after the lapse of a longer pe¬ riod. This is a sufficient ground for quashing the writ aside from other considerations tending to the same results. Certiorari quashed.
Doc. No. 43.]
292
SUPREME COURT.
The Same ex rel, Eben Meriam, and others, vs.
The Mayot. Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York.
Bronson, J. This case depends on the same principles as that on the relation of Agnew and others, in relation to the sewer.
Certiorari quashed.
DOCUMENT No. 44.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 13, 1841.
Report of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, on the Annual Report of the Chief Engineer. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Joint Committee on Fire and Water, to whom was referred the annexed communication of the Chief Engineer, respectfully
REPORT :
That in the course of their examinations into the present condition of the Fire Department, they have become satis¬ fied that some alterations are necessary to the ordinances now in force, in relation thereto, and which they have care¬ fully prepared, and now submit them for the consideration of the Common Council.
The first amendment which they propose, refers to the
294
Doc. No. 44.]
election of the Chief Engineer, which, under the ordinances now in force, takes place every year, in consequence of which, in the opinion of the Committee, great excitement constantly prevails in the Department, which has a tendency to impair its usefulness, and disturb that harmony and good feeling which would otherwise prevail among its members; in addition to which, it places the Chief Engineer in a situa¬ tion in which lie might neglect to pursue that independent course of conduct which is so essential to the faithful per¬ formance of his high and responsible duties ; they there¬ fore propose that in lieu of the present system, he shall continue in office when elected, so long as a majority of the Firemen, in conjunction with the Common Council, shall think proper to permit him to remain ; leaving it optional at any time with a majority of the Firemen, to ask for a new election ; in which case it shall be the duty of the Common Council to order one agreeably to their request, in such man¬ ner as is now provided by law. This amendment, it will be perceived, places the tenure of that officer in the same situa¬ tion as it was in former years, with the exception that then the power of removal rested entirely with the Common Council, without any action on the part of the Firemen.
They also propose, that the Chief Engineer, under the di¬ rection of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, shall have the entire control of all the apparatus belonging to the De¬ partment, in order that he may at all times have a familiar knowledge of its situation, and know the force upon which he can at all times rely in cases of fire. Under the pro¬ visions of the present ordinances, this branch of the Depart¬ ment has been entrusted with the Superintendent of Build¬ ings and Repairs, but in the opinion of the Committee, it is more appropriately the duty of the Chief Engineer, as he is supposed to know at all times what repairs are necessary, and to receive the earliest information of all accidents hap¬ pening to the apparatus.
In consequence of the extra duties which this provision
295
[Doc. No. 44.
will impose upon the Chief Engineer, the Committee recom¬ mend that his salary shall be increased to one thousand dol¬ lars per annum, which corresponds with the sum received by that officer under former ordinances, which embraced the above services, in addition to those now performed by him.
Under the existing ordinances, the Chief Engineer is au¬ thorized to sell and dispose of such of the apparatus as may have been condemned and no longer of any service to the Department : in lieu of which, the Committee recommend that such power be entrusted with the Superintendent of Buildings and Repairs, in consequence of the latter being recognized as a disbursing officer, and the former having no authority of that character.
It frequently happens, that in consequence of quarrels, or other malpractices, it becomes necessary that the apparatus entrusted to the Companies should be taken from them un¬ til the difficulty can be adjusted and harmony restored among the members ; and this power has heretofore been, and is now, vested in, and exercised by, the Chief Engineer ; in consequence of which, ill feeling is often engendered to¬ wards him by the parties complained of, which, if possible, it is desirable to avoid ; and for that purpose they recom¬ mend that it shall be the duty of the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, in all cases where they may think it neces¬ sary, to take possession of any fire engine, or other appara¬ tus, and retain the same under their control until, in their judgment, they can be restored to the company or companies from which they may have been taken, with advantage to the Department.
Almost daily complaints are made by our citizens, and with good cause, as your Committee are bound to admit, of the violation of the ordinance relative to the engines and other carriages being drawn upon the sidewalks in times of fire or alarms of fire, thereby causing great damage to the apparatus, and seriously injuring public and private property, as well as endangering the lives of the citizens, and when
Doe. No. 44.]
296
the situation of the streets does not warrant the Firemen in so doing. Repeated efforts have been made to prevent a prac¬ tice so fraught with danger, but as yet without producing the desired effect, as, under the provisions of the present or¬ dinance, no person can be rendered liable to the penalty of the law, except he is recognized as being actually engaged in the violation thereof, the company in no case being re¬ sponsible as such ; and it is known to all, that it is exceed¬ ingly difficult, and frequently impossible, especially during the night, to detect an individual under such circumstances, in consequence of which the law is constantly violated with impunity ; and so great an evil has the practice become, as to call loudly for some provision whereby it may be abated, if not entirely removed. The Committee therefore propose, that any officer or member of a company, who shall en¬ courage or assist in drawing an engine or other fire appara¬ tus upon the sidewalks in times of fire or alarms of fire, un¬ less the situation of the street may be such as to render it necessary to do so, shall be liable to be expelled from the Department. Such a provision, they hope, will have a ten¬ dency to deter the Firemen from persisting in so dangerous a practice, and thereby relieve our citizens from the danger to which they are now so frequently exposed.
Another evil of great magnitude, and which has given rise to frequent and serious disturbances among the Firemen, are the associations of young men and boys, known as vo¬ lunteers, who, under the garb of Firemen, are in the habit of frequenting engine houses at all hours of the day and night, collecting in large companies around the doors, and in porter houses located in the neighborhood, to the annoy¬ ance of passengers, and the inhabitants in the vicinity ; and in times of fire taking possession of the public property without any of the regular members of the company being present and controlling their operations ; and to such an ex¬ tent has this practice been carried, that the location of an engine house is now viewed as a serious evil to the neigh-
297
[Doc. No. 44.
borhoood, and injurious to the surrounding property. Con¬ duct such as this, is not only calculated to cast a stigma up¬ on the character of the Firemen, but in many instances has, as we have reason to believe, laid the foundation for crime in younger life, which, in more mature years, has been atoned for, either within the walls of a piison, or by an ignominious death upon the scaffold. For the purpose of endeavoring, as far as in their power, to prevent associations of this cha¬ racter, your Committee have embraced a provision in the pro¬ posed amendments, whereby any company who shall en¬ courage, suffer, or permit volunteer associations to exist among them shall be forthwith abandoned; and any Fore¬ man, or Assistant Foreman, who shall recognise them as such, shall, upon complaint made and duly proved, be liable to expulsion. This plan is the only one which they have been able to discover, which will have the effect to purge the character of the Department ; believing, as they do, that if the Firemen were alone responsible for their conduct, they would very soon assume an entirely different aspect in this community, and that the badge of firemanship, instead of being a bye-word and a reproach, would commend itself to the confidence and respect of all classes of our citizens.
In consequence of the difficulty which the Committee has experienced in bringing offenders to punishment, owing to their inability to recognise the individuals, they have intro¬ duced a provision by which the officer in command for the time being, shall forthwith report the name of the person so offending, and in case of his neglect or refusal to do so he shall be held responsible for the same.
It will probably be recollected by the members of the Com¬ mon Council that, several months since, the Committee re¬ commended that the appropriations made to the different companies, for the purpose of enabling them to employ suit¬ able persons to take charge of the public property, should be discontinued ; and that, in lieu thereof, a specific sum should be allowed them annually, to be disposed of in the furnish-
Doc. No. 44.]
298
ing of fuel, oil, torches, and other necessary articles connect¬ ed with their fire apparatus. The sum heretofore expended for that purpose has amounted to about $22,000 per annum, in lieu of which the Committee recommend the adoption of that part of the proposed ordinance, whereby each engine company will receive the sum of $125 per annum; each hook and ladder company a similar sum ; each four-wheel hose carriage company, $100; and each of two wheels, $80 ; to be expended in such way as is in said ordinance spe¬ cially provided for. By such an arrangement, it is believed that in lieu of the large amount of money heretofore expend¬ ed, that the sum of $17,000 can be saved to the city, as the whole amount to be expended, under this provision, will be about $9,520, from which is to be deducted the expense of furnishing the articles above referred to, estimated at $4,500 leaving, as a charge upon the Department, $5,020.
Upon a careful examination of the various ordinances which have, from time to time, been passed in relation to the Fire Department, the Committee have been unable to discover that any provision has been made whereby the number of persons to be atiached to any one company shall be limited; but it has been left discretionary with the Committee on Fire and Water to regulate them according to the circum¬ stances in which they may be placed ; in consequence of which, some companies, at the present time, have more men attached to them than the service requires, thereby imposing an unnecessary burthen upon that portion of our citizens who are subject to jury and military duties: they therefore propose, for the consideration of the Common Council, that from and after the adoption of the ordinance appended to their report, that Companies known as Numbers 22, 38, and 48, having in charge the three largest engines in the depart¬ ment, shall each be allowed fifty men, and no more, the other engines of ordinary size, each thirty men ; the hook and lad¬ der companies, each thirty men ; hose carriages of four wheels each, twenty-five men ; those of two wheels eighteen
299
[Doc. No. 44*
men, and each hydrant company fifteen men. They do not propose that any company who may now have a greater number of members than that above specified, shall imme¬ diately reduce them, in conformity with such provision ; but as vacancies occur, they shall not be supplied except in cases where such number is less than that specified in the ordinance.
The Committee have also had under consideration the subject of dividing the city into separate and distinct dis¬ tricts; but they have been unable, as yet, to mature the plan, so as to report the same for the action of the Com¬ mon Council.
Your Committee have devoted much time and attention to this important branch of our city government, in the anxious hope that the amendments which they have pro¬ posed will have a beneficial effect, both upon the efficiency and character of the Department ; and with that view they have called to their aid the wisdom and experience of those who have long been engaged in its service; and they are happy in being able to state, that the proposed alterations have received the sanction and approbation of those who feel an interest in its welfare, and who now look forward, with renewed hope, that the day is not distant when, with such provisions as we have submitted, strictly enforced, the Fire Department will again assume its ancient character, and once more become the pride of its members, and an ornament to our city.
Respectfully submitted.
C. B. TIMPSON,
MORRIS FRANKLIN,
A. HATFIELD,
DANIEL WARD, WILLIAM ADAMS, DANIEL D. BRIGGS, Dated New York, December 13, 1841,
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■_
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Q3
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AN ORDINANCE
To amend and alter Chapter XV. of the Revised Ordinances, entitled “Of Fires and the Fire Department,” passed April 23, 1839 ; and also an ordinance entitled “ An Or¬ dinance to amend and alter the Laws and Ordinances now in force relative to Fires and the Fire Department in the City of New York.”
The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York , in Common Council convened, do ordain as follows:
Section 1. The Fire Department of the said City shall consist of a Chief Engineer, nine Assistant Engineers, a Water Purveyor, and as many Fire Wardens, fire engine men, hose men, hook and ladder men, and hydrant men, as are or may from time to time be appointed by the Common Coun¬ cil, and who shall respectively be distinguished by the seve¬ ral appellations aforesaid.
§ 2. The nomination of the Chief Engineer and Assis¬ tant Engineers, shall be made by the Firemen by ballot, at such time as the Common Council may hereafter appoint, and the persons receiving the greatest number of votes for the respective offices, shall be thereupon entitled to a nomina¬ tion to the Common Council for appointment to such offices. Such appointment to continue during the pleasure of the Common Council, or until a new election, which shall be asked for by a majority of the Firemen, shall have been held, and the nomination made by them duly confirmed.
§ 3. Whenever a vacancy shall occur in either of the offices of Chief Engineer, or Assistant Engineers, the Engi¬ neers and the foremen of the fire companies collectively, shall have power, and it shall be their duty, to call a special 2
302
Doc. No. 44]
election, and designate the time for holding the same, to the end that a nomination, pursuant to the provisions of the or¬ dinance, may be made to the Common Council to supply such vacancy.
§ 4. The Chief Engineer shall, in all cases of fire, have the sole and absolute control and command over all the en¬ gineers, and other persons connected with the Fire Depart¬ ment. It shall be the duty of the Chief Engineer to direct the other engineers to take proper measures to arrange the several fire engines in the most advantageous manner, and to cause them to be duly worked for the effectual extinguish¬ ment of fires. It shall also be the duty of the said Chief En¬ gineer to examine twice in every year, into the condition and number of the fire engines and other fire apparatus, and fire engine houses, and to report the same once a year to the Common Council, together with the names of all the mem¬ bers of the Fire Department, and the respective associations to which they belong. It shall also be the duty of the Chief Engineer, to report in writing, all accidents by fire that may take place in this city, with the causes thereof, as well as they can be ascertained, and the number of, and description of, the buildings destroyed or injured, together with the names of the owners or occupants, to the Common Council; and it shall also be his duty, whenever any of the fire en¬ gines, hose carts, trucks, and hooks and ladders, or other fire apparatus shall require to be repaired, to report the same forthwith to the Joint Committee on Fire and Water, and under their direction to superintend the repairs thereof, and report all violations or disobedience of orders to said Com¬ mittee, and at all times to be under the direction of said Committee.
§ 5. The Superintendent of Buildings, under the advice of the Committee on Fire and Water, is authorized to sell for cash, any old and condemned fire engines and hose deposited at the public yard, and shall pay the money received for such
303
[Doc. No. 44.
engines or hose when sold, to the City Treasurer, and deposit the receipt for such money with the Comptroller.
§ 6. The Committee on Fire and Water shall be author¬ ized and empowered to take any fire engine, hook and lad¬ der truck, or hose cart, from the company, and place the same in the public yard, or give the same to some other company.
§ 7. The Chief Engineer shall receive for his services, a yearly salary of one thousand dollars, payable quarterly, and shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation, well and faithfully to per¬ form such duties.
§ 8. No fire engine nor hook and ladder truck, nor hose cart, shall, in going to, or returning from, any fire, or at any other time, be run, driven, wheeled, or placed upon any side¬ walk, except by the special order of one of the engineers, under the penalty of twenty-five dollars for each offence, to be forfeited and paid by every person aiding or assisting in, or consenting to the violation of any one of the provisions of this section, to be recovered by the Attorney of the Common Council, for the use of the Corporation, and also under the further penalty of the expulsion of the foreman and assistant foreman, and all members of the company, who may aid or assist in, or consent to such violation.
§ 9. No boys or other persons known as “volunteers,” shall be permitted to assume the garb of Firemen, have access to any of the places of deposite of the fire engines, hose, hooks and ladders, or other apparatus of the Fire Department, or run as members with any such engine, hose cart, or hook and ladder truck, or form any associations similar in any way to those now known as “ volunteer associations and any fire company in the City of New York, which shall consent to any violation of the provisions of this section, shall be forthwith disbanded.
§ 10. That in case of any breach of the peace or other violation of good order, on the part of any of the Firemen
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304
while on duty, it shall be the duty of the officer in command for the time being, forthwith to report the name of the per¬ son or persons so offending, to the Committee on Fire and Water, and in case of his neglect to do so, he shall be held responsible for the same.
§ 11. It shall be the especial duty of the foreman and assistant foreman, of each engine, hose, and hook and ladder company, to see that the provisions of the last preceding sec¬ tion of this ordinance, are fully and strictly enforced, so far as regards the company to which such foreman or assistant foreman may be attached, and if either or both of them aid or consent to the violation of the provisions of such section, they or either of them so offending, shall be immediately ex¬ pelled from the department.
§ 12. Engine Companies Nos. 22, 38 and 42, shall here¬ after consist of fifty men each, and all other engine compa¬ nies of thirty men each ; hook and ladder companies of thirty men each ; hose companies with four wheeled hose car¬ riages, of twenty-five men each ; hose companies with two wheeled hose carriages, of eighteen men each ; and hydrant companies of fifteen men each ; and the Chief Engineer is hereby directed not to allow the above named companies to exceed the number of men specified.
§ 13. Each engine, hose, and hook and ladder company shall hereafter procure for their own use, all oil and cans, fuel, signals, torches, tubs, pails, stoves, and all other things necessary to the cleaning of the fire apparatus of such com¬ pany ; they shall also procure or cause the cleaning and painting of their engine, hose, and hook and ladder houses, and all their fire apparatus to be done ; and shall annually receive therefor the following sums in lieu of salaries of cleaners, to wit :
Engine companies, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per annum.
Hose companies with four wheeled hose carriages, one hundred dollars per annum.
305 [Doc. No. 44.
Hose companies with two wheeled carts, eighty dollars per annum.
Hook and ladder-companies, one hundred and twenty-five dollars per annum.
Commencing January 1st, 1842, and that such sums re¬ spectively shall be paid by the Comptroller quarterly, upon the order of the foreman, approved by the Chairman of the Committee on Fire and Water.
§ 14. The first nomination under this ordinance shall take place between the first and second Tuesdays in June (inclusive) 1842.
§ 15. Engine Company No. 9, shall be hereafter known as Hose Company No. 35.
Engine Company No. 47, as Hose Company No. 34.
The Third Ward Hose Company, as Hose Company No. 27.
The Fifth District Hose Company, as Hose Company No. 28.
Hose Company No. 44, as Hose Company No. 29.
Hose Company No. 43, as Hose Company No. 31.
Hose Company No. 42, as Hose Company No. 32.
Making the numbers and locations of the fire apparatus of the city as follows And the Clerk of the Common Council is hereby authorized to make the necessary altera¬ tions in accordance with this ordinance.
Engine 1 Clinton square, foot of Duane street.
“ 2 Eldridge, near Division street.
“ 3 Orange, near Prince street.
“ 4 North Dutch Church, Ann street.
“ 5 North Dutch Church, Fulton street.
“ 6 Reade street, near West Broadway.
“ 7 Rose, near Frankfort street.
u 8 Ludlow, near Broome street.
u 9 Disbanded.
“ 10 Third street, near the Bowery.
“ 11 Wooster, near Prince street.
Doc. No. 44.]
306
Engine 12 William, near Duane street.
« 13 Duane, near William street.
« 14 Corner Vesey and Church streets.
« 15 Christie, near Walker street.
« 16 Disbanded.
“ 17 Walnut, near Grand street.
“ 18 Amity street, near Sixth avenue.
« 19 Elizabeth, near Grand street.
« 20 Cedar, near Greenwich street.
« 21 Lumber, near Cedar street.
“ 22 Chambers, near Centre street.
« 23 Anthony street, near Broadway.
« 24 Seventeenth street, near Ninth avenue.
« 25 Twenty-third street, near Fifth avenue.
« 26 Madison, near Rutgers street.
« 27 Watts, near Greenwich street.
« 28 Disbanded.
a 29 Horatio street, near Ninth avenue.
“ 30 Disbanded.
« 31 West Broadway, near Beach street.
“ 32 Hester, near Allen street.
“ 33 Gouverneur, near Henry street.
“ 34 Christopher, near Hudson street.
« 35 Harluem.
« 36 Varick, near Vandam street.
“ 37 Delancey, near Allen street.
“ 38 Nassau, near Ann street.
« 39 Doyer, near Chatham square.
« 40 Mulberry, near Broome street.
« 41 Corner Delancey and Attorney streets.
« 42 Beaver, near William street.
« 43 Manhattanville.
« 44 Houston, near Lewis street.
« 45 Yorkville, Third avenue.
« 46 Twenty-fifth street, near Bull’s Head.
« 47 Disbanded.
307
[Doc. No. 44
Engine 48 Thirteenth street, near Sixth avenue.
“ 49 Harlaem.
“ 50 Bloomingdale road, Harsenville.
HOSE COMPANIES.
No. 1 Four-wheel, Duane, near William street.
** 2 Two-wheel, William, near Duane street.
“ 3 Two-wheel, Centre near Hester street.
“ 4 Two-wheel, Attorney, near Delancey street,
“ 5 Four-wheel, Mercer, near Prince street.
“ 6 Four-wheel, Gouverneur, near Henry street.
“ 7 Two-wheel, Christie, near Stanton street.
11 8 Four-wheel, Cedar, near Nassau street.
“ 9 Four-wheel, Mulberry, near Broome street.
“ 10 Two-wheel, Roosevelt, near Cherry street.
" 11 Two-wheel, Jefferson Market, Sixth avenue.
“ 12 Four-wheel, Seventeenth street, n. Ninth avenue.
“ 13 Two wheel, Eldridge, near Division street.
« 14 Two-wheel, Elizabeth, near Bayard street.
“ 15 Two-wheel, Essex market, Grand street.
« 16 Two-wheel, Beaver, near Broad street.
“ 17 Four-wheel, Fifth street, near Second avenue.
« 18 Two wheel, Franklin Market, Old slip.
“ 19 Two-wheel, Courtlandt alley, near Canal street.
« 20 Two-wheel, John, near Dutch street.
m 21 Two-wheel, Henry, near Catharine street. u 22 Two-wheel, Hester, near Allen street. a 23 Two-wheel, Charles, near Hudson street. a 24 Two-wheel, Renwick, near Spring street. ti 25 Two-wheel, Leonard street, near Broadway.
« 26 Two-wheel, Monroe, near Jefferson street.
« 27 Two-wheel, corner Yesey and Church street.
« 28 Two-wheel, Chambers, near Centre street.
« 29 Two-wheel, Willett, near Rivington street.
« 30 Two-wheel, Bowery, near Thirteenth street.
Doc. No. 44.]
308
No. 31 Two-wheel, Willett, near Rivington street.
“ 32 Two-wheel, Third street, near Bowery.
“ 33 Two-wheel, Sullivan, near Prince street.
“ 34 Two-wheel, Tenth street, near avenue D.
“ 35 Two-wheel, Mercer, near Bleecker street.
“ 36 Two-wheel, Henry, near Catharine street.
HYDRANT COMPANIES.
No. 1 John A. Blackledge, Foreman..
“ 2 Allen R. Jollie, Foreman.
“ 3 Daniel Coger, Foreman.
HOOK AND LADDER COMPANIES.
No. 1 Beaver street, near Broad street.
“ 2 Chambers street, near Centre street.
“ 3 Horatio street, near Ninth avenue.
“ 4 Eldridge street, near Walker street.
“ 5 Corner of Delancey and Attorney streets.
“ 6 Mercer street, near Prince street.
“ 7 Harlaem.
“ 8 Disbanded.
“ 9 Disbanded.
“ 10 Third avenue, Yorkville.
Fire Wardens. Six in each of the First, Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Tenth, Ele¬ venth, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Se¬ venteenth wards.
I 16. All ordinances, or parts of ordinances, inconsistent with the provisions of this ordinance, are hereby repealed.
DOCUMENT No. 45.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 13, 1841.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in ac¬ cordance with the Ordinance providing for the Accoun¬ tability of Executive Committees. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on the Croton Aqueduct, in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the Accountability of Com¬ mittees, respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting held November 26th, 1841, present, Aldermen Leonard, Williams and Lee j Assistant Aldermen Brevoort and Adams, the following bills were audited and
passed :
Workmen’s wages . $ 1,722 18
Cartage of pipe . . . . . 591 38
Amount carried over. . • • •$ 2,313 66
Doc. No. 45.]
310
Amount brought forward . $ 2,313 56
Stillman & Co., for pipe . 2,177 93
David C. Wood, for pipe . 1,075 24
A. M. Jones, for pipe . 2,236 60
Merrick & Town, for pipe . 1,692 38
James Robertson, for stopcocks . 1,436 00
T. & G. Rowe, for castings . 680 93
H. Y. B. Barker, for excavating . 848 38
James McCullough, for lead . 1,559 16
W. Plumb, for sundries . 13 06
W. Whitley, for wood . 31 88
Daniel Martin, for sundries . 32 81
Charles O’Neil, for charcoal . 28 51
John Ely, for tools . 36 88
Wm. Condon, for hammers . 75 00
Baxter & Mott, for sundries . . 79 68
Campbell & Moody, for timber . . 1,033 61
Patrick M’Cafferty, for trenches. . 2,561 91
John Cummings, for castings . 1,048 03
Wm. Westerfield, for cart . 65 00
T. D. Howe, for mason work . 231 57
James P. Allaire, for pipe . 1,783 81
Chollar & Jones, for pipe . 6,860 49
$ 27,902 37
They also approved of Charles Hillsburgh’s- bill of lead, purchased by the Water Commissioners for the use of the work above Forty-second street, amounting to $5,829 91.
At a meeting held December 10th, 1841, present, Aider- men Leonard, Williams and Lee ; Assistant Aldermen Bre- voort and Ward, the following bills were audited and passed :
Workmen’s wages . . $ 1,298 67
Cartage of pipe . . . 516 13
Amount carried over. . ■...■$ 1,814 80
311
[Doc. No. 45.
Amount brought forward . $ 1,814 80
H. Y. B. Barker, for excavating . 981 31
James M’Cul lough, for lead . 626 76
Blair & Quinn, for trenches . 472 94
Postley & Co., for castings . . 431 92
Stillman & Co., for pipes . 2,692 23
Chollar & Jones, for pipes . 12,505 10
J. W. Brick, for pipes . . 2,627 60
A. M. Jones, for pipes . 2,198 97
Winterton & Myers, for pipes . 4,661 35
John Ely, for tools . 24 13
Wm. Plumb, for sundries . 63 00
Peter Quin, for trenches . 445 02
$29,545 13
They also approved the bills of the Water Commissioners, for work and materials above Forty-second street, amount¬ ing to $6,020 85.
Respectfully submitted,
MOSES. G. LEONARD, FREDERICK R. LEE, RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, HENRY BREYOORT,
DANIEL WARD.
DOCUMENT No. 46.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 13, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs , in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the Ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Coitimon Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Publie Offices and Repairs, in accor¬ dance with the ordinance making provision for the accoun¬ tability of Executive Committees, respectfully
REPORT :
That they have audited and passed the following bills :
Nov. 25, 1841. Workmen’s wages . * • $724 29
« « E. Nichols, tin work . 20 00
Amount carried over
$744 29
Dog. No. 46.]
314
Amount brought over . , . $744 29
Nov. 25, 1841. T. S. Corey, turning, . 20 00
“ “ M. Crane . 13 50
“ “ James Yan Houton, making hose 8 00
“ “ C. Y. Anderson, printing . 7 25
“ “ Langshore & Reblet, timber .... 3 60
“ “ William Elder . 1 25
“ “ John Barry, work . 9 37
$807 26
Of which $477 13 was for repairs and supplies, and $330 13 was for the Fire Department.
Pec, 10, 1841. Workmen’s wages . $732 76
“ “ W. H. Dunn, feed . 83 51
“ “ M. H. O’Connor . 32 62
f‘ “ Henry Cahone . 23 88
“ “ D. T. Johnson, painting . 130 50
“ “ Isaac Edwards, making hose ... 12 70
“ “ John Barry, work . 675
(i “ Edward Biker, sundries . 3 75
$1,026 47
Of which $617 40 was for repairs and supplies, and $409 07 was for the Fire Department.
FREDERICK R. LEE,
C. BALIS,
C, B. TIMPSON.
DOCUMENT No. 47.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 27, 1841.
'The following Communication was received from his Ho¬ nor the Mayor , returning , with his objections , the resolu¬ tion, authorizing the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common¬ alty of the City of New York, to seize certain unclaimed lands. Ordered on file, and to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, { f - December 27th, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
Gentlemen,— I herewith return to your Honorable Body, with my reasons for not approving it, a resolution which originated in your Board, of which the following is a copy :
“ Resolved, That pursuant to the provisions of the Act, entitled ‘An Act authorizing the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, to take possession of certain unclaimed lands,’ passed March 26th, 1819, the Comp-
Doe. No. 47.]
316
troller be, and he is hereby, directed to take immediate pos¬ session for, and on behalf of, the Mayor, Aldermen, and Com¬ monalty of the City of New York, of all the lots, pieces, or parcels of land designated in the annexed schedule, provided the rightful owners do not appear and claim possession of the same.”
The Act of the Legislature referred to in this resolution, does not compel the Corporation “to take possession,” &c : it only authorizes them to do so.
This statute authorizes the Common Council thus to take possession of the lots, or pieces, or parcels of land, as well where the owners are known and reside in the city, as where they are unknown.
If the city does take possession of the property, they hold it as trustee for the benefit of the real owners, and are com¬ pelled to deliver the property to such owners upon demand, and upon the owners paying to the city authorities all sums due thereon for taxes and assessments, and also the value of the improvements which may be made, or erected upon the same by the Common Council : the amount to be paid by the owners for such improvements, shall, in no case, exceed two-thirds of the value of the lands. The Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the city, are then to account to such owner, and pay over to him all the rents, issues, and profits, which they may receive on account of such premises.
There is nothing in the law authorizing the Common Council to abandon the trust after they shall have assumed it. They can only be relieved from the trust by the demand of the owner. They must remain the trustee of the owner so long as the owner desires it. The Common Council will be subject to the laws applicable to trustees and cestuque trusts, with the limitations and alterations made by this par¬ ticular law.
A careful examination of this statute, will show so many questions of law may arise between the owner of the pro¬ perty, or the purchaser of his interest at sheriff’s or master’s
317
[Doc. No. 47.
sale, and the Corporation, or persons who may hire the pro¬ perty from the Corporation, that no prudent person would hire such property from the Corporation. If so, it will be injudicious in the Corporation to assume the trusteeship of property under its provisions. The Corporation should not, and I am confident that, knowingly, they will not rent to individuals, property under circumstances which may expose such citizens to a total loss of the improvements they may erect upon it, or which may expose the Corporation to ac¬ tions to recover from them the damages which citizens may have sustained by reason of the improvements erected, or which will require the Corporation, from a sense of justice, to pay to citizens, from the public treasury, what the strict rules of law would prevent their recovering.
What is intended by the statute by “ the true owners of the property ?” Does it mean only the owner at the time the Corporation took possession of the property, or does it also embrace all persons who may subsequently become the owners of it by purchase at sheriff’s sale, under judgments obtained before the Corporation took possession, or upon de¬ crees upon mortgages given previously. By a careful read¬ ing of the statute, it will be seen that “ the true owners of property” mentioned in the statute, are also the owners of the rents, issues, and profits which may be received by the Cor¬ poration. These rents, issues, and profits thus collected by the Corporation, cannot go to the purchaser under execution or decree in chancery, consequently purchasers under exe¬ cutions and decrees are not embraced in the words “ true owners,” and they would not be compelled to pay for the im¬ provements. There are no words in the statute extending its provisions against the assigness of the owner.
Again, the statute authorizes the Corporation to receive the value of the improvements made by the Corporation ; there is nothing in the letter of the statute which authorizes the lessees of the Corporation to receive the value of the improvements which the lessees may make. As these are
Doc, No. 47.]
318
rights given by statute, they most probably should be strictly construed and confined to the express letter of the statute.
These are some of the questions which would arise under this statute, and it is certainly very questionable whether they could be legally decided in favor of the Corporation or their lessees.
Did not these legal questions exist, still, upon the ground of benefit to the Corporation, I am of the opinion we should not accept and act under this statute.
The Corporation takes possession of these vacant lots, and thus assumes to act as the trustee of the owners. The Cor¬ poration could not, for taxes due to itself, sell the property thus in its possession. By assuming the trust, the Corpora¬ tion agrees to collect the taxes and assessments out of the rents, issues and profits of the land. The tax, then, cannot be received by the city, until the city rents the property. The city is authorized to make improvements upon the lots* If she does so, then the whole rent, both for the land and improvements, is for the benefit of the owners. When the owner demands the possession of the property, all he has to pay for the improvements is the value of them, at the time they are delivered to him. Therefore, the Corporation would lose the interest of the eost paid, and also the deterio¬ ration of the improvements, and would be obliged to ac¬ count to the owners for all the rents, issues and profits. This word, “ account,” might be legally construed to com¬ pel the Corporation to pay interest to the owners upon the rents received, which shows, certainly, a great pecuniary loss by the Common Council, besides compensating officers to attend to the property.
It may be said that the Corporation are not compelled to make improvements. This is true. If they hired the pro¬ perty out, the citizen renting it would make improvements, and would be exposed to the losses I have suggested.
The Corporation should not hold the position of landlord It is their interest to sell all the property they now own
319
[Doc. No. 47.
which is not required for their business purposes. It is cer¬ tainly more obligatory upon them not to hold the position of landlord for the benefit of others.
For these reasons I withhold my approval to the resolu¬ tion.
The schedule of property of the Street Commissioner, an¬ nexed to the resolution, contains thirty-nine parcels of land ; the owners of thirty-four of which are known, and are resi¬ dents of this city; leaving five pieces, the owners of which are unknown. It is certainly equitable, that property which has no owner should go into the Public Treasury, in such manner as to save the value thereof for the owner, should he ever appear to claim it. I therefore suggest that a law should be asked for, authorizing the Corporation, after proper notice, to sell such property at auction, and to give a con¬ veyance for the same in fee, and to appropriate the avails for the purposes of the city government. An account should be kept of all monies thus received, that the owner, when he shall appear, may receive the monies thus belonging to him. The Corporation should not be compelled to pay interest upon these monies, because the use of the monies is not more than a just compensation to them for preserving the amount for the owner.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
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DOCUMENT No. 48.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 27, 1841.
Annual Estimate of the Revenues and Expenditures of the Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New/ York, for the year 1842/ with the amount neces- sary to be raised by tax. Ordered to be printed and re¬ ferred to the Finance Committee .
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, ?
December 27, 1841. \
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York :
Gentlemen— The estimate of the revenues and expendi¬ tures of the City Government, for the year 1842, is herewith presented as a basis for the general appropriation bill, and for the usual annual application to the Legislature to raise mo¬ ney by tax. The accounts of the Croton Aqueduct are omitted, but will be presented as soon as the Engineers can prepare their estimates.
322
Doc. No. 48-3
The estimates for the current expenditures of the Corpora¬ tion, above its ordinary revenue, is not more than one mil¬ lion and fifty thousand dollars, the amount of tax to be ap¬ plied for to the State Legislature. This exhibits some re¬ duction below the actual disbursements of the present year. The undersigned, however, has given the items more in de¬ tail than has been customary, in order that the Common Council may be fully enabled to judge, both of their neces¬ sity and sufficiency, in considering the appropriation bill.
Most respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
323
[Doc. No. 48.
GENERAL ESTIMATE
FOR THE EXPENDITURES OF THE CITV CORPORATION,
For the year 1842.
To be met by special assessments on
Streets, Opening . . . . $ 58,000
Streets, Paving, &c . 120,000
Fencing Lots . 3,000
Wells and Pumps . 8,000
Liens on Lots . . 6,900
Cleaning Docks and Slips . 16,000
Charges on Arrears of Assessments . 3,000
Charges on Arrears of Taxes . 5,000
Temporary Bonds issued in anticipation of Streets
Opening Assessments . 250,000
Interest thereon . . 7,000
Interest on Streets, Paving, &c . 15,000
Interest on Fencing Lots . 1,000
Interest on Wells and Pumps . 500
$493,400
To be met by Loans.
For Croton Aqueduct Completion . * $1,500,000
« Water Pipes . . . 400,000
“ Temporary Water Loan . 1,176,686
“ February and May Interest on Water Stock 226,000 ** February Interest on Temporary Water Loan 28,000
“ Treasury Bonds for Water Loan . 350,000
“ Interest on ditto . 21,000
Added while in press.
Doc. No. 48.] 324
Expenditure to be met by Arrears of Tax.
Outstanding Warrants . $300,000
Revenue Bonds . 202,000
Redemption of Floating Debt . 50,000
Amounts to be met by Special Tax under General Laws.
For Public Schools . $ 97,000
“ Expenses of School Commissioners . 500
“ Delinquencies of Tax . 500
“ Levying Tax . 14,500
“ Redemption of Floating Debt . 60,000
$162,500
Expenditures to be met by the Ordinary Revenue and Ge¬ neral Taxation , under Authority to be applied for at the coming Session of the State Legislature.
Alms House.
For Salaries . $ 35,788 20
“ Incidentals . 214,211 80
- $250,000
Board of Health.
For Salaries .
“ Lime .
“ Printing . .
• “ Removing Nuisances
$3,300
400
200
1,600
Amount carried forward
$255,500
325
[Doc. No. 48.
Amount brought forward . . $255,500
Cleaning Streets.
To Ward Inspectors for sweeping .... $55,000
“ “ 11 for carts . 56,000
“ Inspectors of Manure . 2,800
“ Forages for public Horses . 2,800
“ Sweepers employed from Office . . . 10,000
“ Private Carts employed from Office 7,000 Salary of Superintendent and Clerk . . 1,850
Birch Brooms, Repairs to Carts, Har¬ ness, &c . 4,550
- 140,000
Markets.
Supply of Water . . . $ 1,000
Salaries . 11,000
Birch Brooms, Printing, &c . 500
* - 12,500
Cleaning Corporation Slips . 5,000
Police.
Salaries of Justices and Clerks . $17,050
Officers, Sunday and Special, Police, &c. 22,950
- 40,000
Fire Department.
Leather for Hose . $2,088
Burs and Rivets for Hose . 700
Three men to make-Hose . 1,800
Mending Hose, four men . 2,400
TwoCartmen . 1,200
Horses and Carts . 300
Amounts carried forward
$8,488 $453,000
Doc. No. 48.] 326
Amounts brought forward . $8,488
Blacksmiths and Helpers . 2,000
Engineers in shop, six men . 3,600
Two men in hook and ladder shop .... 1,200
Ten Bell Ringers . 7,300
Materials for Smiths . 500
Lumber . 1,000
Appropriation to Companies . 9,500
Incidental Expenses . 2,612
Courts.
Salaries . $20,000
Other expenses . 21,000
Justices'1 Courts.
Salaries . $14,000
Rent of Court Rooms . 700
Intestate Estates.
Salary . $1,250
Printing and Stationery . 250
Office Rent and Incidentals . 300
Coroner’s Fees .
Penalties . . . . .
Repairing Corporation Docks and Slips .
Lands and Places.
Salaries of Keepers . $2,200
Labor and materials . 6,500
$453,000
36,200
41,000
14,700
1,800
5,000
3,000
16,000
8,700
Amount carried forward
$579,400
327
[Doc. No. 48.
Amount brought forward .
Public Reservoir.
Salaries. . f 1,000
Supplies of water . 2,500
Incidental expenses . 2,200
Repairs and Supplies.
For Repairs to Public Buildings .... $23,000
« “ Wells and Pumps . . . 8,500
“ “ Markets . 1,500
« « Lamps and Gas . 1,500
“ « Police, Watch, &c... 2,000
M “ Lands and Places .... 750
“ “ Streets . 1,000
Street expenses .
Roads and Avenues .
Real Estate.
Assessments on City Property . $8,000
Building new Docks and Slips . 46,000
Elections .
Commutation of Aliens Mayoralty Fees . .
$579,400
5,700
38,250
30,000
16.000
54,000
7,000
100
63
Printing and Stationery.
|
Departments . . |
$2,300 |
|
Clerk of Common Council . |
2,500 |
|
Documents of Common Council |
3,600 |
|
Proceedings Board of Aldermen |
3,300 |
|
“ Board Assist. Aldermen |
3,300 |
|
Incidentals . |
5,000 |
Amount carried forward .
$750,513
Doc. No. 48.]
328
Amount brought forward . . $ 750,513
Salaries . . . 60,000
Tavern and Excise Licenses . 1,200
Interest .
On City Stocks of 1820 and 1829 . . . $25,000'
“ Building Stock . 25,650
“ Fire Indemnity Stock . - . 18,000
“ Floating Debt . 21,000
“ Temporary Bonds . 12,000
- 101,650
Lamps and Gas.
For Oil . $52,000
“ Lighting Lamps . 41,000
“ Supply of Gas and Lighting. . . 18,500
“ Repairs and new Lamp Frames . 1,200
“ Painting and Glazing . 2,500
“ Setting Posts and Irons . 800
“ Starting Oil, Spinning Wicks, &c 250
“ Salary of Superintendent . 1,000
- - 117,250
Watch.
Pay of Captains . $5,460
“ Assistants . 8,636
“ Men ...../ . 209,300
« Cleaning Watch Houses . 1,690
“ Incidental extras . . . 8,914
- 234,000
Contingencies . 40,000
Amount of Revenues
$1,304,613
260,000
$1,044,613
DOCUMENT No. 49.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS,
DECEMBER 28, 1841.
Report of the Committee of the Board of Supervisors, upon the resolution to increase the salary of the Assessors. Laid on the table , and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to take into consideration, and report on the several matters recom¬ mended by the Board of Assessors.
By J. Pollock.
The Committee of the Board of Supervisors, to whom was referred the resolution taking into consideration the several matters recommended by the Board of Assessors, asking for an increase of salary, &c., respectfully
REPORT :
That as the law now stands, all the Assessors, excepting those of the Twelfth ward, receive the same compensation
Doc. No. 49.]
330
for their services, viz : three hundred dollars each, per annum. This law, doubtless contemplated the time and labor of mak¬ ing the assessments, to be equal, or nearly so, in the respec¬ tive wards, or there could have been no justice or reason in fixing the same price to the several wards. Upon the prin¬ ciple, that every man’s time is equally valuable, and that a proper equivalent should be given for labor performed, and if three hundred dollars is the lowest minimum price that any Assessor should receive, then a portion of them who have much more labor to perform should receive a larger compensation. Taking three hundred dollars as a fair com¬ pensation for the Assessors of the Second ward, (for the Com¬ mittee understand the Assessors of that ward to say, that that is a fair equivalent,) then upon the principle above stated, many of the other Assessors should receive a greater salary, to be equally compensated. The Committee found it to be a difficult matter to fix upon any principle to appropriate the money to the several Assessors, so that each might receive a compensation in exact proportion to the services performed. In this your Committee were assisted by the Assessors who appeared before them and presented them with a list of all the assessible inhabitants in the several wards. Your Com¬ mittee thought they could fix upon no more equitable rule, than making the number of individuals assessed the ratio of compensation. This will hold good in most of the wards, excepting the Twelfth and Sixteenth, to which it was not applied, and for which salaries are recommended that, it is believed, will compensate the Assessors for their time. Al¬ lowing three hundred dollars to be but a fair compensation for the Assessors of the Second ward, and as the number of assessible inhabitants is much less in that ward than any other, it will be perceived the Committee have thought an increase of salary to the Assessors of the other wards, not only equitable and just, but as they trust they will be able to show even necessary to a proper equalization of the taxes. In carrying out the above rule, your Committee believe it
331
[Doc. No. 49.
will be sufficiently near the right, to be equitable and also satisfactory to all, to divide the wards into four classes, vary¬ ing the prices to each class as above recommended. The following is the classification as recommended by the Com¬ mittee :
To the Assessors of the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Wards, the Committee recommend the payment of the same salary which they now receive, viz., three hundred dollars each; to those of the First, Fifth, and Thirteenth wards, four hundred dollars each ; to those of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Se¬ venteenth wards, four hundred and fifty dollars each; to those of the Twelfth and Sixteenth wards, six hundred dol¬ lars each. This difference in the aggregate amount of mo¬ ney paid to the Assessors, is equal to three thousand dollars increase ; or, in other words, where it now costs ten thou¬ sand eight hundred dollars for assessing the property in the several wards, it would cost thirteen thousand eight hundred dollars, at the prices above recommended. Allow¬ ing the whole of the property assessed to amount to two hundred millions of dollars, this increase would then only be equal to one and a half mills to the one hundred dollars of property assessed. This amount, though inconsiderable in itself, would be sufficient to pay the honest public servant in making a full and diligent search for property that has hitherto evaded the grasp of the Assessor-; being personal property, and in the hands of individuals who have sought opportunities to evade justice, and have shared all the bless¬ ings of goverment without bearing any of its burdens, whilst it would not increase the burden of our taxes to any percep¬ tible amount. The Assessors expressed a firm conviction that, if properly rewarded for their services, they would be enabled to return a large amount of personal property that has long escaped the knowledge of the officers, who have not been enabled to make all that due inquiry and diligent search, that is necessary to render equal and exact justice to
Doc. No. 49.]
332
all. In a mixed community, like the one in which we live, composed of all classes of individuals, many are willing, and even seek opportunities, to elude the ends of public jus¬ tice by evasions that are unworthy as they are contemptible ; whilst others will resort to gross frauds to cheat the public officers, claiming the right to swindle the Corporation, upon the ground of their being a rich public body, and being bet¬ ter able to bear it than individuals; and hence their dealings with individuals have been honorable, and they stand un¬ suspected. With such men the honest man has not an equal chance ; whilst he voluntarily gives up his property, and submits to, the wholesome rules of the law, the burdens and expenses of government fall upon him, and his crafty and deceptive neighbor shares only in its protection and bless¬ ings. This evil your Committee believe would, at least to some extent, be removed; and that much more than enough to make up the difference, as suggested, of personal property, would be returned, that in justice, should pay its proportion into the Public Treasury.
With these considerations the Committee submit for adop¬ tion the following resolutions :
Resolved , That the Assessors of the Second, Third, Fourth, Sixth, Tenth, and Fourteenth Wards, shall receive as a com¬ pensation for their services as Assessors, the sum of three hundred dollars each.
Resolved , That the Assessors of the First, Fifth, and Thir¬ teenth Wards, shall receive as a compensation for their ser¬ vices as Assessors, the sum of four hundred dollars each.
Resolved , That the Assessors of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, Eleventh, Fifteenth, and Seventeenth Wards, shall re¬ ceive the sum of four hundred and fifty dollars each, as a compensation for their services as Assessors.
333
[Doc. No. 49.
Resolved , That the Assessors of the Twelfth and Six¬ teenth Wards, shall receive the sum of six hundred dollars each, as a compensation for their services as Assessors of their respective wards.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
JAMES POLLOCK, MOSES G. LEONARD.
DOCUMENT No. 50.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
DECEMBER 27, 1841.
Report of the Comptroller, for the Quarter ending Octo¬ ber 31, 1841, in relation to the Accounts of the City Chamberlain. Ordered to be printed and to be placed on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, £
City of New York, December 27, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Common Council :
I herewith submit to your Honorable Body the certificate of the Cashier of the Bank of the State of New York, show¬ ing the balances standing to the credit of the City Chamber- lain on the 1st of November last, together with the account current of the Chamberlain.
These accounts have been examined, and compared with the vouchers in this office, and found correct.
Doc. No. 50.]
336
The balance on that day, in the general fund, Vas one hundred and five thousand one hundred and eighty-eight dollars and thirteen cents; the uninvested balance in the Sinking Fund, was fifty thousand four hundred and twenty- one dollars and fifty-one cents ; and the amount belonging to the fund for “ Interest on the Fire Loan,* was ten thousand five hundred and eighty-four dollars and sixty-nine cents.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
337
[Doc. No.
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Doc. No. 50.]
338
Bank op the State op New York, ?
October 30th, 1841. \
I hereby certify, that after the close of business this day, the balances hereafter named, were standing to the credit of the following accounts, viz: to the “City Treasurer,” one hundred and five thousand one hundred and eighty-eight dollars thirteen cents , ($105,188 13.) To the “ Commission¬ ers of the Sinking Fund,” fifty thousand four hundred and twenty-one dollars fifty-one cents , ($50,421 51,) and to “In¬ terest on Fire Loan,” belonging to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund, ten thousand five hundred and eighty four dollars sixty-nine cents , ($10,584 69.)
R. WITHERS, Cashier.
November Is#, 1841.
A correct copy.
W. H. Dikeman.
DOCUMENT No. 51.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 10, 1842.
Report of the Joint Special Committee on the Communi¬ cation from the New York and Albany Rail Road Com¬ pany. Adopted and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Joint Special Committee, to whom was referred the annexed communication to his Honor the Mayor, from the New York and Albany Rail Road Company, respectfully submit the following
REPORT:
When this subject was presented to the consideration of a former Common Council, by a Committee of Citizens from the counties on the line of the road, the Committee to whom it was referred, presented a report which was well calcu¬ lated (with accompanying documents,) to awaken public at¬ tention to the great importance of the enterprize. The adop-
Doc. No. 51.]
340
tion of that report, and the extensive circulation it received, it is believed, has to some extent effected the desired object : and though the progress of public sentiment has been too tardy for the emergency, recent indications clearly evince an awakening from that careless repose into which our com¬ munity had been lulled, by a long career of uninterrupted prosperity ; so that well grounded fears begin to be enter¬ tained, that a continued increase of our population and wealth, which past experience had led us to anticipate, may be speedily interrupted. The facts stated in the communi¬ cation before us, are well calculated to confirm and strength¬ en these apprehensions, rendered the tnore fearful by the great accumulation of our city debt. The people of this city have never heretofore felt the necessity of uniting their en¬ ergies for the accomplishment of any great local object ; their intercourse with the whole country and with the world at large, has always engrossed their attention, and the great va¬ riety of material and diversity of interest, which compose our body politic, have always presented obstacles to a har- counter. But it may be reasonably anticipated, that when an monious union of action, which other communities do not en- occasion calls for it, and when all classes of the community can be made to feel its necessity, a concentration of energies can be effected. It would be a libel upon our citizens to charge them with a want of patriotism. Although they may be justly accused of an apparent and peculiar destitution of city attachment, they cannot be fairly charged with any de¬ ficiency of state pride ; and their love of country may be truly said to predominate over all their other local attach¬ ments. This characteristic has led them to appreciate, in the furtherance of almost every work of improvement on the whole face of the country, with a freedom and liberality which attest both their wealth and their enterprize. Rail Roads are yet in their infancy, and their great capabilities have never half been realized by our citizens. Five years ttgo a prediction that flour would be transported from Albany
341
[Doc. No. 51.
to Boston at fifty cents per barrel, would have been deemed an idle phantom, yet the dream of the visionary has been realized ; and vve now find an eastern city competing suc¬ cessfully with us for the commerce of that grand canal which we have been accustomed to regard as exclusively our own beyond the reach of a possible contingency. We cannot shut our eyes to the fact, that during four months of the year our enterprising rival neighbors enjoy these new ad¬ vantages, while we are entirely excluded from them. A continuous line of rail road running parallel with the canal, and terminating at its two extremities, will enable our east¬ ern competitors to carry to her favored port, the rich agri¬ cultural productions of the west, and to return in exchange for them, the produce of every clime, whilst we are waiting for the opening of spring to gather up the gleanings of that rich harvest-field of trade which formerly poured its trea¬ sures exclusively into our lap.
Such is our position, and such are the circumstances which call upon our community for united local action. The means by which we can recover our lost advantages are clearly within our reach. A rail road to Albany can be con¬ structed for less than half the cost which Boston has incur¬ red in the prosecution of her enterprize ; and such is the favorable condition of the route surveyed by the company engaged in the undertaking, that the road, when completed, can be operated with less than half the expense, and travelled in half of the time, required by the Boston road. And such is the zeal and resources of the population who reside in its vicinity, and their intelligent estimate of its advantages to them, that they willingly give up their lands for the right of way, and offer to contribute largely to the means required for its construction ; so that a subscription in this city of about one million of dollars, in addition to the present avail¬ able resources of the company, will enable them to enter upon a vigorous prosecution of their work, with a sure pros¬ pect of its speedy completion, without embarrassment to the
Doc. No. 51.]
342
company or loss to the subscribers. With such surprizing facilities as we shall thus acquire, of intercourse with the northern and western part of our State, and such advan¬ tages as our geographical position, our capital, and our com¬ mercial experience afford, we may safely look forward to an uninterrupted continuance of that course of successful en- terprize which has justly distinguished our commercial me¬ tropolis as the great emporium of the West. In view of these facts and considerations the Committee offer for adop¬ tion the following resolutions :
Resolved , That while we congratulate our sister City of Boston upon the success of her great undertaking, and the auspicious prospect of future greatness which it holds up to her contemplation, we feel called upon to admonish our own citizens of the necessity of corresponding efforts to maintain our commercial supremacy.
Resolved , That the construction of a rail road to Albany and Troy will, in the opinion of this body, not only effectu¬ ally prevent a diversion of our northern and western trade from its accustomed channel by the efforts of competititors, but also open to our city new avenues of profitable trade hitherto inaccessible.
Resolved , That we have heard, with much gratification, that the New York and Albany Rail Road Company are persevering in their efforts to accomplish their enterprize, and we do earnestly commend it to the patronage and sup¬ port of our citizens.
Resolved , That this great and patriotic undertaking, de¬ pending for success wholly upon private enterprize, com¬ mends itself to the favorable regard of all whose business or property are identified with the welfare of our city by every consideration of private interest and of public duty.
343
[Doc. No. 51.
Resolved , That the members of the Common Council hereby tender the aid of their individual exertions in fur¬ therance of the objects contemplated in the above resolutions. All of which is respectfully submitted.
MOSES G. LEONARD, ELIJAH H. KIMBALL,
F. R. LEE,
JOHN M. SEAMAN, WILLIAM D. MURPHY.
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DOCUMENT No. 52.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 10, 1842.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in ac¬ cordance with the Ordinance providing for the Accoun¬ tability of Executive Committees of the Common Coun. cil. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Croton Aqueduct Committee respectfully REPORT :
That they have, during the past month, audited the fol¬ lowing bills, viz :
1841.
Dec. 23. Workmen’s wages . $ 1,083 77
“ Cartage of pipe . . . 467 38
« James Robertson, stopcocks . 1,169 00
Amount carried over . $ 2,720 15
Doc. No. 52.]
346
Amount brought over . $2,720 15
1841.
Dec. 23. T. & G. Rowe, castings . . 686 27
“ Hockman <fc Martin, wedges . 409 98
“ Thomas D. Howe, mason work . 64 19
“ J. C. Robertson, pipe bands . 67 50
“ H. Y. B. Barker, excavation . 725 52
“ William Plumb, sundries . 11 00
“ Stillman & Co. pipes . 2,517 59
“ Winterton & Myers, pipes . 3,681 07
“ West Point Foundry, pipes . 4,768 15
“ Ellicot & Brothers . 225 08
“ John Paulding, expenses to Croton . . 3 75
“ James Murphy, stage hire . . . . , t 15 00
$15,895 25
Ellicot & Brothers, pipe, payable in
stock . $10,948 34
They also at the same time audited bills presented by the Water Commissioners for work done above Forty-second street, amounting to $4,167 50.
1842.
Jan. 6. Workmen’s wages . . . $ 620 95
“ Cartage of pipes . 353: 38
“ H. Y. B. Barker, excavating . 281:19
“ P. M’Cafferty, excavating . 1,529 26
“ William Maxwell, yarn . . . 275 53
“ R. B. Dyckman, yarn . . 198 25
“ T. & G. Rowe, castings . . 447 72
“ F. R. Lee, tools . . 63 03
“ Manhattan Company, repairing logs . . ; 19 48
Amount carried forward . $3,794 79
347
[Doc. No. 52.
Amount brought forward . $3,794 79
1842.
Jan. 6. J. C. Robertson, iron bands . 53 13
“ Gardner & Wells, lumber . 19 92
“ James Coffin, rope . 67 52
“ William Plumb, sundries . . . 62 76
“ John J. Moffatt, stopcock boxes . 165 09
« D. C. Wood, pipe . 1,765 69
“ Stillman & Co. pipe . 2,603 77
“ Joseph W. Brick, pipe . 5,116 38
“ Merrick & Town, pipe . 5,946 71
$19,545 67
They at the same time audited the bills from the Water Commissioners for work done above Forty-second street, and for the salaries of said Commissioners, &c. amounting to $4,776 96.
MOSES G. LEONARD,
F. R. LEE,
RICHARD S. WILLIAMS.
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DOCUMENT No. 53.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 10, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs , in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the ac¬ countability of Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs, would re¬ spectfully
REPORT :
That within the past month they have audited and di¬ rected to be paid, the following bills :
Dec. 23, 1841. Workmen’s wages . $468 82
“ Thomas T. Woodruff . 67 00
“ Engine Company No. 36 painting 75 00
Amount carried forward . $610 82
Doc. No. 53.]
350
Amount brought forward. . . $610 82
Dec. 23, 1841. A. M’Clelland . 36 19
“ Peter Lutz . 17 12
“ W. J. Champion . 10 37
“ Charles Pitt . . . . 7 25
“ Cornelius Nostrand . . . 1 87
“ Susan Cogswell . 1 88
$685 50
Of which amount, one hundred and ninety-eight dollars and thirteen cents was for the use of the Fire Department, and four hundred and eighty-seven dollars and thirty-seven cents for Repairs and Supplies.
1842.
Jan. 6, Workmen’s wages . $ 763 48
“ John H. Bowie, for leather . 627 72
“ John Wright, for rivets, &C . 432 27
“ Cornelius Reed, for lumber . 377 93
“ Thomas D. Howe, for mason work . 392 77
“ T. S. Timpson, for hardware . 170 26
“ Henry Worrall & Co., for castings . 21 68
“ Robert Pettigrew, for cleaning wells . 83 19
“ R. Whittingham, for brass work . 117 00
“ Cooper & Dunn, for painting hose cart . . 39 50
“ Green & Armstrong . 27 50
“ Stephen C. Cornell . 26 56
“ Matthew O’Connor . 22 12
“ H. M. Britton, for chairs . 72 00
“ John Barry, for carpenter work . 15 63
“ Elias L. Smith, for hardware . 10 90
“ M. Burton . 8 37
“ Hiram G. Smith, for chairs . 8 00
“ Peter Morris, for paving . 2 12
Amount carried forward . . ' . $2,219 00
351 [Doc. No. 53.
Amount brought forward . $2,219 00
1842.
Jan 6. E. M. Hoffman, for blinds . 226 11
« Elias Mills, for wood . 37 50
$3,482 61
Of which, two thousand one hundred and forty-one dol¬ lars six cents was used for Repairs and Supplies, and one thousand three hundred and forty-one dollars fifty-five cents was used for the Fire Department.
Respectfully submitted.
FREDERICK R. LEE,
C. B. TIMPSON,
C. BALIS.
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DOCUMENT No. 54.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 10, 1842.
Report of the Finance Committee , in favor of granting a portion of common land to the Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans. Laid on the table.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Finance Committee, to whom was referred, from the files, the annexed papers in relation to the application of the “Association for the Benefit of Colored Orphans,” for a grant of land, respectfully
REPORT:
That the several papers consist of a memorial from said association, a report thereon from the Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools of the Board of Assistant Aider- men, to whom the memorial had been referred, and reports thereon from the majority and minority of a similar Commit¬ tee of the Board of Aldermen. These papers have refe-
Doc. No. 54.]
354
rence to a proposition for the Corporation to grant to the “ As¬ sociation for the Benefit of Colored Orphans,” a portion of the common lands bounded by Forty-third and Forty-fourth streets, the westerly side of the Fifth avenue, and a' line two hundred and fifty feet westerly therefrom, containing twenty lots of land. Your Committee have carefully exa¬ mined the several papers, and have given to them, and the sub¬ ject to which they relate, a proper degree of consideration. As the papers are very elaborate in regard to the facts and suggestions appertaining to the subject, the Committee deem it sufficient to recapitulate, briefly, the principal points, and to express their opinion thereon, referring the Board to those papers for more full and detailed information.
The association is composed of highly respectable and in¬ telligent females ; and, from an examination of their memo¬ rial, it appears that the association was organized during the Winter of 1836, and in 1838 was incorporated by an Act of the Legislature. Its objects are, the protection and educa¬ tion of destitute colored orphans, until they shall arrive at a sufficient age to be bound out to some useful occupation. The memorialists state, that their association is not charac¬ terized by sectarianism, and is entirely free from, and inde¬ pendent of, the exciting questions which have, more or less, disturbed the public mind in relation to the colored race ; that their sympathies were enlisted in favor of this destitute class, because no provision had been made for them by any of the several institutions of a similar character. They also state, that eighty -nine children have been taken into their asylum during the four years of its existence, several of whom were taken from the Alms House, and that there now remain in the asylum forty-nine ; and that they have invested the sum of thirteen thousand two hundred dollars for the pur¬ pose of erecting a suitable building whenever the land can be procured. The report of the Committee of the Board of Assistant Aldermen, and that of the majority of the Committee of the Board of Aldermen, are favorable to the application of
355
[Doc. No. 54.
the memorialists, from various charitable considerations. The minority report, in the Board of Aldermen, is strongly in opposition to the application, on the ground that the pub¬ lic property, proposed to be conveyed to this association, “ be¬ longs to the whole community, and can only be disposed of for the common benefit of the whole and of impropriety, in “granting the Corporation propertyin aid of special charitable, or partial benevolent' projects, devised and got up by indivi¬ duals, for peculiar purposes; or to assist distinct and separate classes, to the exclusion of others, not coming within the distinction made by the several societies.” And it contends, that the Common Council cannot, legitimately, exercise power in voting these grants ; and that they might as well “aid, with the public funds, some favorite and pleasing scheme of rail road intercommunication ; or any other pro¬ ject, of individuals or companies, got up under the plea of public good.” While your Committee concur in the gene¬ ral premises contained in this report, that the public property belongs to the whole community, and should only be disposed of for the common benefit, they are unable, in the conside¬ ration of this question, to apply it to the abstractions which follow the premises, or coincide with the deductions that have been drawn from them. They do not consider it es¬ sential to confine themselves to such narrow views and ex¬ cessively nice reasoning, to come to a proper understanding of this subject ; but believe it may be satisfactorily disposed of by the exercise of plain common sense. The proposition under consideration involves but simple questions. It ap¬ pears to your Committee only necessary to inquire, whether the proposed donation of land is for the benefit of objects of public charity? and if so, whether the claims of this associa¬ tion are such as to warrant the Corporation in making it?
In regard to the first inquiry, there can scarcely be a dif¬ ference of opinion. The association is for the protection and support of destitute colored orphans, for whom no provision had been made by any previous charitable institution. Some
Doc. No. 54.]
356
of these children, the memorialists inform, have been taken from the Alms House, and many of them from the abodes of want, wretchedness, and vice, and they express their con¬ viction, that a large portion of those who have entered their asylum, and who may hereafter enter it “ would otherwise, either as paupers or criminals, become chargeable to the city.” It is evident, therefore, that this association is a charity in the strict sense of the term, as it admits all of a class of the community that the Corporation, in some shape, are bound to take care of. In regard to the power of the Corporation in making such donations, it is probably plain that if they have the right to dispense to the helpless and the destitute at all, by the establishment of an alms house and lunatic asy¬ lum, they have a perfect right to dispense it in any other way that they may deem most conducive to these objects, and especially if with diminished expense to the city. The association have received in donations from the benevolent thirty thousand dollars, besides a considerable amount of cloth¬ ing and provisions, and they have invested the sum of thirteen thousand two hundred dollars, for the erection of a building whenever the land shall be procured. Eighty-nine children have been received into the asylum during the four years of its existence, several of whom were taken from the Alms House, and there now remains in the asylum forty-nine. Is it not reasonable, under these circumstances, and a legiti¬ mate exercise of discretion on the part of the Corporation, in aiding the benevolent efforts of this association, by making to them a donation of a small piece of unproductive public land on which to erect their asylum? is it not for the bene¬ fit of the whole community to make such donation, rather than that these neglected children should be supported in our Alms House, or perhaps at a later period in our prisons ? There is no analogy between a donation for such a purpose and one for some pleasing scheme of rail road inter-commu¬ nication. Your Committee have not perceived any force in the objection urged against donations to charitable institu-
357
[Doc. No. 54.
tions because they may not all partake of the public bounty in exact proportion, or because they are special in their cha¬ racter and for the benefit of certain classes : they necessarily must be so; it is only essential for us, in dispensing these charities, to be satisfied that they embrace proper objects of charity, and such as the public would otherwise be compelled to provide for. If a benevolent society should be organized avowedly to take care of all the destitute poor upon similar terms, whereby the city would be relieved from the necessity of maintaining an al ms bouse establishment at an annual expense of two hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars, although it might be designated a special benevolent associ¬ ation exclusively for the benefit of certain classes, and got up by individuals in furtherance of their peculiar benevolent purposes, the Common Council would hardly feel, in with¬ holding from them a donation of unproductive public land, upon which they might erect the necessary buildings, and a question would hardly be raised that it would not be for the benefit of the whole community to do so.
Your Committee subjoin to their report the following reso¬ lution :
Resolved , That all that certain piece or parcel of land bounded northerly by Forty-fourth street., southerly by Forty- third street, easterly by the Fifth avenue, and extending westerly two hundred and fifty feet from the Fifth avenue, be granted to the “Association for the Benefit of Colored Or¬ phans in the City of New York,” subject to any lien now ex¬ isting thereon, under any pledge heretofore made of the same as part of the property of the City of New York, for the re¬ demption of any portion of the public stocks or debt of the said city, upon condition that the said association shall erect thereon, within three years from the passage of this resolu¬ tion, a building or buildings, the plan whereof shall 'be ap¬ proved by the Mayor of the City of New York, and shall and will, at all times, if required by the Commissioners of
Doc. No. 54.]
358
the Alms House or Commoh Council, maintain, clothe, and keep twelve colored pauper children, without any charge to said city, and upon the further condition that they shall not sell, dispose of, or encumber the same, but shall forever keep the same for the purposes contemplated by the charter of the said association, and in case of a violation of either of these condi lions, the Corporation may re-enter and re-possess them¬ selves 'of the said property, as in their former right; and that the Counsel of the Corporation be instructed to prepare and have duly executed, such deed of the said property.
Respectfully submitted.
JAMES POLLOCK, EGBERT BENSON, MOSES G. LEONARD.
DOCUMENT No. 56.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 17, 1842.
The Water Commissioners presented their Semi-Annual Report in relation to the Croton Aqueduct , which was laid on the table and directed to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Water Commissioners’ Office, ) January 14, 1842. $
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York:
In obedience to the Act of the Legislature of the State, the undersigned present this, the third Semi-Annual Report, which has emanated from the Board of Water Commis¬ sioners since the undersigned have had charge of the Cro¬ ton Aqueduct.
The undersigned have continued, from time to time, since their last report, to deposite with the Comptroller of the City, the vouchers for the payment of money, the deeds for
Doe. No. 55.]
362
lands taken, and all releases and compromises of damage, for obstruction of highways, and extinguishment of water rights on the Croton River, rendered necessary by the pro¬ posed diversion of the water to the city.
They have also made up a general account current, for the Comptroller, commencing from the first day of January (the date of the last general account) and continuing until the thirty-first day of December last; which account we pray may be examined by the Finance Committee, in conformity to the laws of the State.
Expenditures made by the Water Commissioners, under the Act to supply the City of New York with pure and wholesome water, from the commencement, to January, 1842.
From July, 1835, to Jan. 1836 . . $ 31,828 02
“ Jan. 1836, to July, “ $ 12,070 84
“ July, “ to Jan. 1837 28,099 58
- 40,170 42
“ Jan. 1837, to July, “ $ 62,602 85
“ July, « to Jan. 1838 233,856 93
- 296,459 78
“ Jan. 1838, to July, “ 605,766 76
“ July, “ to Jan. 1839 984,445 70
- 1,590,212 46
“ Jan. 1839, to July, “ $ 715,362 01
« July, “ to Jan. 1840 1,243,827 13
- 1,959,189 14
“ Jan. 1840, to July, « $1,043,108 31
“ July, “ to Jan. 1841, 1,030,651 46
- 2,073,759 77
“ Jan. 1841, to July, “ 421,540 13
“ July, “ to Jan. 1842, 697,303 31
- 1,118,843 44
$7,110,463 03
Less the amount hereinafter referred to . 3,000 00
Amount carried forward . $7,107,463 03
363
[Doc. No. 55.
Amount brought forward . $7,107,463 03
To this sum add a warrant in the hands of the Commissioners, payable to Abigail Faure . . . 176 00
$7,107,639 03
Amount appearing to the credit of the Mayor,
Aldermen and Commonalty, &c., on the books of accounts in the Water Commis¬ sioners’ office, on the 31st of December,
1841, deducting the sum of $3,000, and the discrepancy of $2 51, mentioned in previ¬ ous report . $7,107,235 19
Leaving a balance of . $ 403 84
due the Water Commissioners.
Expenditure for 1841 is $1,118,843 44, which may be arranged as follows :
First. — Constructing the aqueduct, bridges, rebuilding and extension of the Croton
Dam, &c . $770,167 32
Second. — Iron pipes . . 239,400 00
Third. — Extinguishment of water rights on
Croton River . 7,728 25
Fourth. — Repairs on the line of aqueduct . . 11,499 55
Fifth. — Real estate in fee . 1,400 00
Sixth. — Earth for embankments, and dama¬ ges occasioned by .the construction of the
aqueduct, <fec . 2,230 42
Seventh. — Salaries of the Commissioners and
Clerk . 6,750 00
Eighth. — Legal expenses . 1,671 81
Amount carried over . $1,040,847 35
Doe. No. 55.]
364
Amount brought over . . . $1,040 847 35
Ninth. — Salaries of Engineers and Inspectors, incidental expenses, &c. &c. $32,313 30 And laying the large pipes be¬ tween the reservoirs . 4§,682 79
- 77,996 09
$1,118,843 44
The whole amount disbursed from the commencement may be arranged as follows :
First. — Croton Aqueduct, reservoirs, bridges,
Croton Dam, &c. &c .
Second. — Iron pipes . . .
Third. — Croton Water Rights .
Fourth. — Repairs on aqueduct . .
Fifth. — Real estate .
Sixth. — Salaries of Commissioners and Clerk
Seventh. — Legal expenses .
Eighth. — Laying the large pipes $64,617 24 Salaries and incidental expen¬ ses of the Engineer Depart¬ ment . 191,464 26
Incidental expense account . . 5,151 11
Total expenditures
$5,990,153 29 422,385 83 13,102 25 11,499 55 349,932 05 43,373 85 15,783 60
261,232 61
$7,107,463 03
This amount will be increased by the following sums, still necessary for the completion of the work under the charge of this Board :
The estimated cost, yet to be incurred on the Croton Dam and Croton River Lake ; and the cost on the sections not yet completed,
365
[Doc. No. 55.
between Murray’s Hill and the Harlaem River, including the iron pipes within said limits, and the completion of the two re¬ servoirs . * .
Expense of completing the temporary connex¬ ions of the aqueduct in Westchester, at the Harlaem River, with the aqueduct on this island ; including putting down the pipes across the river, and raising the water piers of the bridge to high water mark, with in¬ cidental work .
Cost of completing the Harlaem River Bridge to its contemplated height, from the posi¬ tion of the work, where the expense neces¬ sary for the temporary crossing of the river stops, with the stone piers only carried up
to high water mark .
Land, yet to be taken, extinguishment of wa¬ ter. rights, &c. &c. estimated at . .
Unpaid estimates for work done by contrac¬ tors in October, November and December ; and unpaid bills of repairs, pay rolls, &c. . .
$ 572,885 00
116,558 00
596,779 00 50,000 00
192,672 55
$1,528,894 55
Cost, as before stated . 63 03
Grand total of outlay and estimated cost to finish, not, however, including pipes below Murray’s Hill, nor interest .
$8,636,357 58
The preliminary estimate of the work in 1835, (which was however, of a different character, and of smaller dimen¬ sions) amounted to $5,412,336 72. Shortly after getting under way, in 1837, the present Chief Engineer estimated the cost at $8,320,898, exclusive of the expense of the Engi¬ neer Department, (before he came into office,) water rights, and land required ; and this estimate of the present Engi-
Doc. No. 55.]
366
neer is still above the expenditure, and his present estimate to finish the work, about $265,000.
The Chief Engineer estimates the wants of the Board in his department, for the year 1842, at $900,000. This is ex¬ clusive of lands yet required, and extinguishment of water rights on the Croton, which may be estimated at $50,000 more — in all $950, 000. A considerable part of this amount is required for the settlement and liquidation, during, the Winter and ensuing Summer, of several of the heavy con¬ tracts, and the final payments to be made on the same.
The payments of 1841 have not been as great as esti¬ mated by $641,189. This grew out of the circumstance of several contracts not having been entirely completed, by reason of which the payments, on final settlement, have not been made.
PRESENT STATE OF THE WORK.
The first division is the part of the work which embraces the Croton River Dam, the artificial lake made by damming the river, and the 10Ty/7 miles of aqueduct, commencing at the gate house at the Croton.
Of this division, the aqueduct part is finished, and was nearly so on the 1st of January, 1841. The only part of this division remaining unfinished is the dam. After the carry¬ ing away of the earthern embankment, comprising a major part of the dam, the undersigned concurred with the Engineers in the advantage of constructing the new dam on an entirely different plan from the one previously constructed ; and in¬ stead of the extended earthen embankment, a continuous stone dam, laid in hydraulic cement, was decided on ; to be constructed entirely across the river, so that the overfall, or apron of the dam, will be of the same extent as the natural breadth of the river. The length of the new part of the dam (the mason work of the old dam not having been carried away) is 180 feet ; so that with the mason work of the first
367
[Doc. No. 55.
erected dam, which still remains, it will make a dam of an overfall of 260 feet. The dam, when completed, will be about 60 feet high, having a base of masonry 66 feet wide ; and banked in, on the up-stream side, with an embankment 250 feet wide at base. The profile of the face of the dam corresponds with the curved form which the water will as¬ sume in pouring over it, and is coped with cut stone, in the most substantial manner.
At the toe of the dam, a heavy apron of crib work, 8 to 12 feet deep, and 53 feet wide, filled in with stone and planked, gives great security to that part of the work. With the view of keeping 4 feet of water on the apron at the toe of the dam, and thereby breaking the force of the fall, by its action on a body of water, there has been constructed, at a point 300 feet below the main dam, a secondary dam, of limber and stone, which is 200 feet long and 9 feet high. The abutments of this secondary dam, with two piers of crib work, filled in with stone, have been used for the purpose of a bridge across the river, and will remain a bridge to accommo¬ date the public, and for the use of the keeper of the gate house.
The construction of the new dam was vigorously com¬ menced by Messrs. McCullough, Black & Co., early in the Spring, under contract, to raise the same so high by the 1st of November following, as to throw at least two feet of water into the tunnel of the aqueduct.
This requirement of their contract they have not fulfilled ; which is to be regretted, mainly on the ground that the work could not be left in as secure a condition, against the Spring floods, as it would have been left had this condition of the contract been complied with. The contractors urged in ex¬ cuse, the great difficulty in procuring sufficient quantities of large stone, and of a suitable quality, and the consequent failure, by their sub-contractors, in the delivery of such stone ; which difficulty was enhanced by the rejection of every stone not deemed of the most durable quality.
The work, on the whole, has been prosecuted, with the 2
Doc. No. 55.]
36S
exception referred to, with commendable perseverance and energy, and the dam can be made to throw into the aqueduct the water required, early in, the ensuing Summer, and can be conveniently completed during the summer months.
It is presumed that the mason work of the dam, will derive additional strength from the extension of the time of its con¬ struction.
The remaining part of the Aqueduct proper, in Westches¬ ter, being the second, third and part of the fourth divisions, is completed to the contemplated gate house at the Harlaem River.
HARLAEM AQUEDUCT BRIDGE.
This work has been progressing, not as fast as was expect¬ ed by the Commissioners or the Engineers. To some extent the embarrassment has arisen by not finding a rock founda¬ tion in the bed of the river for pier No. 10 ; and after re¬ moving the mud and boulders in the river to the depth of thirty-five feet below the surface of the water, without find¬ ing rock, it was determined to place this pier on piles, and this work is now in progress. Although disappointed in not finding a stone foundation, we find the earth in the bed of the river of a compact character, and well suited to give security to the pier, by piling.
The foundations for piers Nos. 7, 8 and 9 are, all of them, with their mason work, carried up above high water. Piers Nos. 3 and 4 have, also, been piled for masonry ; and on piers Nos. 5 and 6, the masonry has been raised to eleven feet in height.
We have supposed that the details of expenditure for Har¬ laem Bridge, would be interesting to your Honorable Bodies, and have therefore to state, that the amount paid, from the beginning, and due to the 1st of January inst., is $210,000. The continuation of the work, sinking the remaining piers and driving the piles, mainly necessary for the proposed tem¬ porary bringing of the water across the river, and the ex¬ pense of laying the pipes for that purpose, will amount to $116,558.
369
[Doc. No. 55.
The estimated cost of carrying the bridge up to its con¬ templated height, from the point or position in which it will be, on the 1st of July next, will amount to $596,779.
After the water is introduced, by these temporary means, there will be no pressing necessity for the high bridge being erected faster than is convenient for the resources of the Corporation and the economy of its construction, provided no objection should be urged against a reasonable interrup¬ tion of the river navigation, by the persons interested therein, the value of which navigation is, at present, too small to be estimated.
Entertaining this view of this important subject, the Board of Water Commissioners have determined, and so instructed the contractors, that without further instructions from them, the Board of Commissioners, they, the contractors, are to do no work on the bridge, excepting such parts as may be ne¬ cessary and directed by our Engineers, to carry the water, on the temporary plan, across the river, and the erection of the piers of the bridge up to high water mark ; and to accom¬ plish this, will keep them busily employed until the 1st of January next. In giving these instructions, we considered we should best meet the views of our fellow citizens and the Common Council. If we are mistaken in the wishes of the Common Council, we shall be glad to be informed of the same. Under this arrangement of the work, the whole amount required by this department to bring the water to Murray’s Hill, will not differ materially from $650,000, which includes the settling up the demands for work already done on the several contracts not yet completed.
CLENDINING VALLEY.
The Common Council will recollect that we informed them, through their Committee, in July, 1840, that we pro¬ posed dispensing with the arched bridges contemplated to be made by the original plan, over 96th, 97th and 101st streets. The two Boards, by resolution, in 1840, approved the con-
Doc. No. 55.]
370
templated change. His Honor the late Mayor, fearing enor¬ mous damages would be exacted by the contractors, doubted the expediency of the measure, and deemed it his duty to veto the resolution of the two Boards. Neither of the Boards of the Common Council took into consideration the veto mes¬ sage of the late Mayor, that we are aware pf, and as the re-, sponsibility of the work and its mode of construction was legally with this Board, we deemed it our duty to dispense with the bridges in question, and the work at the Clendining Yalley is now completed without them.
The saving, by this alteration, has been $52,000, and a more substantial and durable work, made to supply the place of arches. We have, also, arranged with the contrac¬ tors, to settle all their claims for this departure from the original plan, and for the material which they had provided for the arches, for the sum of $4,500.
The excavation of about 50,000 cubic yards of rock has been dispensed with, in the receiving reservoir, of which about 45,000 lie in the northern division. This constitutes a saving of 50,000. One dollar per cubic yard being the price for excavating.
The unfinished work on this island, is on sections Nos. 88, 89, 90, 91, 94, 96, including the receiving reservoir, 97, 98, and the distributing reservoir ; all of which can be com¬ pleted early in the ensuing season, a detailed account of the condition of which, is to be found in the appended report of the Chief Engineer, to which we refer your Honorable Bodies.
ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.
Under the direction of the Board, the Chief Engineer has reduced the corps to one Chief, one principal Assistant, and two Resident Engineers, with the Assistants and Inspectors mentioned in his report. So much of the work is yet un¬ closed, and so many extensive calculations to be completed, and accounts written up, and withal, such is the nature of
371
[Doc. No. 55.
the contracts, being only for the supply of materials and la¬ bor, all to be put and applied, in the presence of and under the direction of the Engineers or Inspectors, that a larger number of Engineers is required, than if the work was con¬ ducted on the judgment and under the direction solely of the contractors or their agents ; but if a brick or stone of inferior quality goes into the work, it is the fault of an Assistant En¬ gineer or Inspector ; and the Board are of opinion that there has been great fidelity, on the part of the Engineers, in the performance of their duty, rendering the work certainly equal in durability and workmanship, if not superior, to any similar work of modern times in the world.
By the absence of Samuel R. Childs, in Europe, the num¬ ber of Acting Commissioners is reduced to four, and there is a consequent reduction in the expenses of this office.
STATEMENT OP LITIGATED CLAIMS.
The balance due under the contracts for sections 38 and 39, to O. & E. Davidson, amounting to $9,787 03, is yet unpaid ; the contractors claiming a larger amount and re¬ fusing to receive their warrants. Their demand is in suit.
The balance due to James Appleton, under his contract for section 29, amounting to $8,096 83 is still unpaid. The contractor has prosecuted this Board in the Supreme Court, claiming an amount (as we contend) beyond his due. A de¬ murrer has been argued, but not yet decided.
A petition of this Board to become possessed of lands of William Beach Lawrence, for the use of the aqueduct, was made to the Court of Chancery. Appraisers were appointed who made an award. Mr. Lawrence refused to accept the award, and has appealed from the decision of the ap¬ praisers.
A petition to become possessed of lands of Cornelia Beek- man has also been made. The order appointing appraisers has been obtained.
Doc. No. 55.]
372
No further proceedings have yet been had.
Mrs. Beekman has instituted in the Justices’ Court, in the town of Mount Pleasant, a suit against the Resident Engi¬ neer, for trespass.
Suits, to become possessed of lands and water rights on Croton River, belonging to the following named persons, have also been commenced in the Court of Chancery:
Pierre Yan Cortlandt, Mrs. Beekman, John Tompkins, Solomon Tompkins, Abigail Faure, Robert Tompkins, Elias Purdy, heirs of Pierre Van Cortlandt, and the Messrs. Baileys.
The claims of the Messrs. Baileys, wire manufacturers, for damages by the floods of the river, in January last, are still unsettled.
The suit of Rebecca Dyckman and others, and also the suit of R. Dyckman and others, being questions connected with the original taking of the land for the aqueduct by our predecessors, are still pending ; questions of appeal or excep¬ tions having been taken up to the Supreme Court.
The present Board have extinguished, by compromise, the water rights on the Croton River, of fifteen different own¬ ers embracing all pretensions to damages, for the sum of $13,102 25, and are also in negotiation for compromising and settling several others.
The Board have to reiterate their increased conviction of the abundance and the purity of the Croton Water supply, the aptness and ability of the aqueduct to perform its duty, the strength and durability of its structures, and the ample returns which will be realized from the same at some future period ; provided always, that the management of the work, and the collection and enforcement of the payment of the rates for water, be placed in the hands of some independent executive Board, who will be likely to be more permanent in office, and rigorous in the execution of their duties, than can be expected in the yearly elected magistrates of the people.
373
[Doc. No. 55.
The necessity of this vast work, on its completion, being placed under the charge of individuals devoting their ex¬ clusive and entire time to it, will be obvious to your Hono¬ rable Bodies. The very large amount of interest to be an¬ nually provided for, and, as it is to be hoped, soon mainly to be realized out of the profits of this undertaking, will re¬ quire business talent and untiring industry, by the persons having charge of the same ; or, we apprehend, the citizens of New York will have to provide, by tax , for a large portion of the interest accruing upon the heavy cost of this work.
If this interest is paid by tax, its burden will appear heavy, when compared with the amount of taxes paid by residents of other cities, which would injuriously affect the future growth of this city; whereas, if our citizens who use the water, owners of steam engines and steam boats of every description, manufactories, ship owners, and perhaps insu¬ rance companies, were all made to pay the real worth, to them, of the water, an amount would soon be realized far exceeding the most sanguine expectations of the friends and promoters of this undertaking ; and certainly surprising to those who look upon this expenditure as a mortgage on the city, without an equivalent, or reasonable return for the outlay.
In conclusion, we have to reiterate our opinion, that the water, with reasonable punctuality in payments to contrac¬ tors, may be discharged into the distributing reservoir at Murray’s Hill, by the ensuing 4th of July; a time which, however, we fear will be altogether too soon for our citizens generally to derive advantage from the completion of the work, growing out of the vast amount of work yet to be done by them, in connecting the service pipes of their dwell¬ ings with the distributing pipes in the streets. t
All which is respectfully submitted.
SAMUEL STEVENS,
Z. RING,
JOHN D. WARD,
B. BIRDSALL.
REPORT
ON THBl
GENERAL STATE OF THE WORK
ON THE
CROTON AQUEDUCT.
New York, 31st December, 1841.
To the Honorable the Board of Water Commissioners of the City of New York :
Gentlemen: —
At the time my report of theJ30th~June last was made, all the sections between the head of the aqueduct‘at the Cro¬ ton Dam and section 86, (which crosses Harlaem River,) ex¬ cept section 33, (which includes the heavy embankment over Mill River Yalley,) were completed, and since that time this section has been completed. The entire line of aqueduct, from the gate house at the Croton Dam to the gate chamber on the north side of Harlaem River Yalley, is now com¬ pleted.
The repairs and incidental improvements on the sections previously completed, which were particularly noticed in said report, have been steadily carried forward as then pro¬ posed. The outside work, in clearing drains, and raising guard banks, to more effectively direct the land floods through the culverts and sluices ; the protection of those parts of the embankments that were not walled, by, in some cases, rais¬ ing the walls, in others, by turfing, and by covering them with loose stone, have been completed, so far as deemed ne¬ cessary at this time : — something more will probably be re-
375
[Doc. No. 55.
quired next season. The rock that indicated decomposition in the two first tunnels above Sing Sing, in one case has been secured by an arch of brick masonry ; and the same course is now in progress to secure the other, and will be completed in a short time. The most important of those cases where settlement had occurred in the aqueduct over foundation walls, have been repaired; and small parties are still employed on those of less moment. The whole could have been completed by this time; but it is found more eco¬ nomical to perform this work by small parties; and there be¬ ing no particular object to be gained by a more rapid prose¬ cution, this course has been adopted. In company with one of your Board, Mr. Birdsall and the Principal Assistant and Resident Engineers, I examined about twenty-five miles of the interior of the aqueduct last week, with particular refe¬ rence to the repairs above mentioned. The appearance of the work strongly indicated that those parts had come to a permanent rest; there being nothing discovered to show any material change for several months, and in some cases more than one year. It is, however, possible that some further settlement may take place, and more require to be done to secure the work in a few places. But as this settlement has now had from one to two years to reach a permanent rest; and as it has rarely exceeded three or four inches, producing checks or cracks in the wall, that, with few exceptions, range within one-eighth of an inch, it is confidently believed the work done will prove sufficient for its permanent safety. The general appearance of the interior of the aqueduct is highly satisfactory ; and considering the great variety of soil, and the very undulating character of the surface that has been met in providing foundations for a continuous line of thirty-three miles of hydraulic masonry, of very unequal and abrupt changes in elevation, the range and extent of une¬ qual settlement must be regarded as very small, and not Of a character to produce any serious apprehension that heavy repairs will be required.
3
Doc. No. 55.]
376
The Croton Reservoir, including the rebuilding of Pine’s Bridge, and repairing the roads and turnpike around the re¬ servoir, which were damaged by the flood last January, are nearly completed.
The work on the contract for extending the Croton Dam had been much retarded up to the date of my report of 30th June last, as therein stated. Prom that time to the latter part of November, the state of the river was generally very favorable for the progress of this work. The importance of advancing the same to a state that would admit of its being most effectively secured, to sustain its exposure from the Winter and Spring floods, and enable us to throw a column of two feet depth of water in the aqueduct, as provided for in the contract, required close attention in the direction of the work, and great energy in its prosecution on the part of the contractors. The work of completing the coffer dams, carrying forward the foundations, and the rough masonry in the body of the dam, was prosecuted with commendable spirit and energy by the contractors. It was^ however, a source of great regret to find, when their work was so far advanced as to be ready to receive them, their preparation of cut stone, required to cope the face of the dam, was far be¬ hind what it should have been. The advanced period in the season, and the difficulty of rapidly executing work of this kind, left hardly any hope that the work would be car¬ ried up to the height required by the contract. I cannot, offer any apology for this want of foresight on the part of the contractors. The amount of work required was early, and distinctly, pointed out, and earnestly enforced on their at¬ tention. It is, however, proper to remark, that they have subsequently made vigorous efforts to remedy this deficiency in their early operations, by resorting to different quarries, and paying extra prices for stone; but they were not able to obtain their coping in time to lay up the work to the height required by their contract to have been laid on the first of November last.
377
[Doc. No. 55.
On the first of September the work embraced in the prin¬ cipal coffer dam was brought up to low water level, and the large engine pumps no longer required. On the 15th of the same month the timber piece was carried across the main channel of the river, and the water passed through the cul¬ vert in the old abutment. The masonry in this part was carried forward vigorously until the first of October, when it was suspended one week, in consequence of a flood in the river, which passed over this masonry in its unfinished state, and did it considerable damage, by washing out the cement which had not had time to become sufficiently hard to resist the fall of 12 to 14 feet of water in passing over it. Very few stone were moved from their places by the water, but the mortar was so much carried out as to require a por¬ tion of them to be taken up and relaid. The masonry of the northern section had been carried up so high that the water of this flood did not pass over it. Considering the green state of the masonry, unprotected by coping, the da¬ mage by this flood was less than might have been antici¬ pated. After this flood had subsided the water was again passed through the culvert and the mason tfrork resumed, and no interruption occurred from the water of the river un¬ til the season became too cold for laying masonry in cement. Two sluices, each 20 feet wide and 4 feet deep, were placed near the north end of the dam, for the purpose of carrying off the water of the river, if it rose too high to be discharged by the culvert. The water did not rise beyond the capacity of the culvert until the 23d of November, since which time there has not been over four days that the whole water could be discharged through the culvert.
By the contract the masonry should have been carried up to a level of 29 feet above low water mark of the river, on the first of November ; but it has been raised only feet, and this has been covered by the cut stone coping only fif¬ teen feet high. To protect the masonry from its exposure to water passing over it during the Winter, the top and lower
Doc. No. 55.]
37S
face has been covered by an apron of timber and plank, ex¬ cept where it is occupied by the sluices before mentioned. The embankment was carried in, above the masonry, as the work progressed, and is finished to the height of masonry, except in front of the culvert, which required to be left, to permit the water of the river to pass the lower opening of the same. It was the intention to have filled up this part as soon as the work would allow the culvert to be closed ; but the rise in the river, which occurred just as we were ready to commence this, prevented our doing it ; and all our attempts, since that time, have been baffled by repeated floods in the river. Though not indispensable, it is regarded as de^ sirable to have the lower opening of the culvert closed, and the embankment in front of it completed as soon as the state of the river will permit. With this view, the earliest opportunity will be embraced to accomplish the object.
The apron of the dam has been put down with great care and expense, and it is believed to be a substantial and well secured structure. It was completed on the 19th of Nor vember.
The secondary dam, which is placed 300 feet below the main dam, has been raised to the height of seven feet, and is composed of round timber, brush, stone, and gravel, with the exception of about 20 feet, left for the passage of the river, and which could not be closed until the work on the apron of the main darn was completed. The work of clos¬ ing the gap was commenced as soon as the work would per¬ mit the water to flow on said apron ; but the rise in the river only allowed one day at this work, during which it was carried up about 3 feet, and at this height it still re¬ mains, the state of the river having at no subsequent time, permitted its further advancement. The abutments of stone masonry on each end of this dam, and the gateway and gates, are essentially completed. The piers for the bridge on this dam are up, and the bridge nearly completed.
The safety of this work during its exposure to Winter and
379
[Doc. No. 55
Spring floods in its unfinished condition, being much short of that security which its completion is designed to give it, has been, and must continue to be, a subject of much anx¬ iety. We have had three floods over it, since it was put in its present condition, during which the water passed the ridge, over which it descends to the apron, at from 3 to 4 feet deep. The last was regarded as a heavy flood : though much short of the great flood of January last, it was greater than any subsequent to that. These floods have passed off without any injury to the main work. The unfinished gap in the secondary dam gave some solicitude for the influence of those floods on its stability • but so far as has been dis¬ covered, no injury has been sustained. On the whole, the effect of the floods thus far, has been to encourage the belief, that the work will pass the Winter without any material damage.
The natural rock, left for a portion of the waste- weir of the old dam, was so much torn up by the flood of last Ja¬ nuary, that it is deemed expedient to reduce the rock surface to the same plane, and cope it in the same manner as was done for the artificial part. The rock may be taken off dur¬ ing the present Winter, and the coping put on, with a suita¬ ble abutment on the hill side, next Summer.
Though we have not reached the point of advancement in this work, that was contemplated by the contract when made, the most difficult part has been accomplished. The foundation and the apron are completed ; and the masonry, the secondary dam, and bridge, are well advanced. Con¬ sidering the amount of work done in the narrow limits with¬ in which it was confined, exposed to the uncertain action of a stream, proverbial for the rapidity and turbulance of its floods, the contractors, though censurable for the inefficiency of their arrangements, in providing them cut stone coping, have, in other respects, prosecuted it with great energy, and generally in a very satisfactory manner.
The dam will require to be raised about 7 feet to throw 2
Doc. No. 55.]
380
feet of water in the aqueduct, and should the season prove tolerably favorable, this may be done by the early part of June next.
The work at Harlaetn River has not progressed as rapidly as was expected, at the time my report of June last, was made. For pier No. 3 the piles are driven and ready to be cut off, which, with the concrete, is all that is wanting to complete this foundation. The foundation for pier No. 4 is ready for the masonry. The masonry for piers Nos. 5 and 6 is raised 11 feet in height. For pier No. 7, ‘(the first water pier,) the masonry is raised 29 feet, and for pier No. 8, (second water pier,) 30 feet in height ; and No. 9, (third wa¬ ter pier,) 35 feet in height. The masonry of these piers ranges from 4 to 21 feet above high tide. The coffer dam for No. 10 is completed, and also the excavation within the dam, and some progress made in driving the sheeting piles for the foundation. The circumstances attending the un¬ successful effort to find a rock foundation for this pier, and the necessity of resorting to a pile foundation, were detailed in my report of 16th November last ; and as then directed by your Board, the contractors have been instructed to pro¬ ceed with the same. Thus far they have made no other progress than the driving of the sheet piles above mentioned ; it having been considered more important to direct their at¬ tention t°o putting in the coffer dam frames, and driving the sheeting for Nos. 12 and 13, in order to prepare a suita¬ ble foundation for the temporary line of pipe, which has required all the power of their steam engine, since No. 10 was ready for piling. The frame of No. 11 has been sunk, the sheet piling driven around it, and the embankment as nearly completed as is practicable, before the piling of the coffer dam for No. 12 is completed. The frame of the coffer dam for No. 12 is sunk, and three-fourths of the sheeting piles are driven. The frame of the coffer for No. 13 is in place, and the work of driving the sheet piling will be com¬ menced immediately. No. 13 is the seventh or last water
381
[Doc. No 55.
pier. After all the coffer dams are embanked, there will be but a small amount of work required to make a foundation for the temporary line of pipe, which it is believed may all be accomplished by an early day in April, which will allow sufficient time to lay down the pipe, as early as other work will be ready for the water to cross the river.
By reference to my report of November last, it will be seen that the borings in No. 10 reached the depth of Tl feet below extreme high tide, without satisfactory evidence that rock was then obtained ; from which it was inferred, that Nos. 11 and 12 would be of a similar character, and also require a pile foundation. The driving of the sheet piling for No. 11 was very much obstructed by rock boulders, which have produced a similar irregularity to that experienced in No. 10. The driving for No. 12 has been much less obstructed by stone, and consequently the sheeting thus far, have been more regularly driven. Piles have been driven for this dam to 50 feet below ordinary high water, without any indication of solid rock, which tends to confirm the impression, that bearing piles will be required for the foundations of Nos. 11 and 12, and possibly for No. 13. Should this prove to be necessary, there will be four continuous piers resting on pile foundations, to wit: Nos. 10, 11, 12, and 13. As yet there is much uncertainty in relation to the character of these, foundations. The original soundings, that indicated rock,, have in two piers, Nos. 8 and 9, proved to be rock in place, constituting a good foundation, while that of No. 10 has proved to be a stratum of sand, mud, and detached rock, lying on a stratum of sand and clay 5 and although there appears ground to believe the rock reached by the soundings for Nos. 11, 12, and 13, will prove to be only boulders, or detached masses, it may yet turn out, that a part of them; will be found to be solid rock. So far as we may be com¬ pelled to prepare foundations for the piers by piling, the ex¬ pense of the work will be increased. The piling itself, is a heavy item, to which must be added an enlarged base for
Doc. No. 55.]
382
the piers, that will be required to spread the bearing over a larger area. It will therefore be perceived, that there is yet a considerable degree of .uncertainty in regard to the expense of the remaining foundations, and the time that will be re¬ quired to complete them. Believing that a revised estimate of this work, would be desirable at this time, it has been made with as much accuracy as such work permits ; and in relation to which, it may be remarked, that the only part in which much uncertainty exists, is in relation to the founda¬ tions for piers Nos. 11, 12, and 13.
It had been supposed that all the work between Harlaem River and Fortieth street, except the t\vo reservoirs and Clen- dining Bridge, would have been completed by or before this time. This expectation has not been realized, and we have to enumerate among the unfinished contracts on the island, sections 88, 89, 90, 91, 97 and 98, besides those not expected at the date of my last report to be. completed this season, to wit, sections 94, (Clendining Bridge) and 96, including the receiving reservoir, and the contract for the distributing re¬ servoir. The masonry and the greater part of the other work on sections 88, 89, 91 and 94 is done, and excepting a part of the masonry in the tunnel, No. 90 is in the same state of forwardness. These sections may all be completed early in the ensuing Spring. Sections 97 and 98 are for the grad¬ ing on the Fifth avenue, and other work connected with the iron pipes, that form the connection between the two reser¬ voirs. The delay of the work on these two sections has pre¬ vented the completion of the work of laying down the. iron pipes on the avenue. The work is now progressing, and it is hoped the contractors will have it ready to allow the lay¬ ing down the remaining pipes early next Spring. It is pro¬ per, however, to remark, that their progress hitherto, has been so tardy, that no great certainty can be anticipated from their management, and unless they go on with considerable energy with their excavation during the Winter, it may be necessary to re-let a portion of this work, in order to secure its completion by the time it will be required.
383
[Doc. No. 55.
The laying down the pipes across Manhattan Valley has been completed, with the exception of putting on the waste cocks. The pipes between the reservoirs are laid down with the exception of . 4,550 feet.
The temporary pipe at Harlaem River is ... . 1,450 “
Total length of single line of pipe to be laid 6,000 feet.
In this department there is some work to be done in put¬ ting in discharge and air cocks to complete it.
The work on the two reservoirs may be completed so far as to be ready to receive the water early in June next, by which time it is believed all other work required for this ob¬ ject may be done.
Total amount of accounts certified in full, in¬ cluding those for sections 29, 38 and 39, on which the balance or final estimate has not
been paid, is .
Estimated cost of unfinished contracts, exclu¬ sive of iron pipes . . .
Estimated cost of iron pipes, including pipes across Harlaem River, and the expense of using apart of them as temporary pipe. . . . Estimated expense of repairs for 1842, and attendance in letting in the water and prov¬ ing the work, which must be regarded in a
great degree as conjectural .
Cost of repairs, as paid and estimated to be
done on the 31st of December, 1841 . «
Expense of Engineer Department since the same has been under my charge, from Oc¬ tober, 1836, to 19th October, 1841, for my¬ self and principal assistant ; and to 31st of December, 1841, for general pay roll and incidental expenses .
$4,554,689 03 2,596,23 7 00
601,000 00
20,000 00
12,592 04
175,611 61
4
$7,960,129 68
384
Doc. No. 55.]
The expenses of the Engineer Department, previous to the time above stated, is to be charged, to obtain the full expense of construction. These, never having been in my accounts, are necessarily omitted in this statement.
For the preceding work there has been expended, includ¬ ing the accounts and estimates submitted up to this date, as follows :
On account of contracts in full, exclusive of
iron pipes, as above . *1,654,689 OS
On unfinished contracts, ex¬ clusive of iron pipes, and including the estimate of December 25th, 1841 . $1,485,207 00
On account of pipes and lay¬ ing them, including bills up to 31st of December, 1841, bill for November, amount¬ ing to $2,600 62, and an estimate for December of $2,500, are yet unpaid. . . .
For Engineer Department, as above stated, November and December pay rolls, and in¬ cidental bill for December, amounting to $3,658 40, unpaid .
For repairs, as above stated. The accounts for Novem¬ ber amounting to $1,027 99, and that for December, es¬ timated to amount to $1,200 are not yet paid .
541,083 69
175,611 61
12,592 04
_ 2,214,494 34
$6,769,183 37
385
[Doc. No. 55.
Summary of preceding Statements.
Expended and estimated to be required . $7,960,129 68
Amount paid and estimated due, as above .... 6,769,183 37
Add for contingencies and superintendence on balance of work to be done at eight per cent . 95,275 70
Remains to be expended . $1,286,222 01
Probable cost of the work, exclusive of the expense of land and water rights, from the Croton Reservoir to the Distribu¬ ting Reservoir, both inclusive, may be stated, as follows :
Total amount of work done and to be done. .$7,960,129 68 Allowance as above for contingencies and superintendence . 95,275 70
Probable total cost of work, exclusive of land and water rights . $8,055,405 38
The total amount of the estimate for the work, which I submitted in December, 1837, with the addition for raising the bridge over Har-
laem River, was . 8,320,898 00
The statement above shows cost and estimate
at this time . 8,055,405 3.8
Less than the estimate of 1837. ... $ 265,492 62
The expenses of the Engineer Department, previous to my taking charge of the work, must be deducted from the above balance.
It is proper to remark that my estimates do not embrace disbursements for land and water rights, and the incidental ■expenses connected with this item; nor have I had charge of the accounts for this disbursement. The land required
L
Doc. No. 55.]
386
has been obtained, with a trifling exception. The water rights on the Groton below the dam, for a total length of river margin, measuring on each side, of 491 chains, and an aggregate fall of 128 feet, have been obtained by purchase ; and there remains a total length, measuring the margin on each side, of 380 chains, with an aggregate fall of 111 feet, for which the water right has not been obtained. This mode of stating the water right, has been adopted in consequence of the fact, that the river is the boundary of property, and each owner of land along the river is said to have so much length, and the whole fall of the river on this length is given, though he has the right to only one-half the water. It will therefore be perceived, that of the entire fall of the river itself, there has been purchased 64 feet, and remains to be obtained by purchase or appraisal 55s^ feet.
By the preceding statements it appears the cost of the whole work will fall below the estimates made in December, 1837. Notwithstanding this aggregate result, a revision of the estimate for the Harlaem River Bridge shows a probable excess in this item as stated below :
Estimated cost of bridge work, including iron pipes, and extra expense of laying down a part of the same for temporary use, with an allowance of eight per cent, on work not done, for superintendence and contingen¬ cies . $935,640 00
The original estimate for the same, was. . . . 866,613 00
Excess of cost over original estimate .... $69,027 00
On the bridge, exclusive of pipe account, there is yet to be expended about six hundred and thirty thousand dollars. Probably about two hundred thousand dollars will be ex¬ pended during the ensuing year.
Tn a few days from this time, the Engineer Department on
387
[Doc. No. 55
the line of the work, will be reduced to the following ar¬ rangement :
E. French, Resident Engineer, 1st and 2d Divisions.
D. Adamson, Inspector at Croton Dam.
P. Hastie, Resident Engineer, 3d and 4th Divisions.
E. H. Tracy, 1st Assistant Engineer.
F. B. Tower, « “
J. Ren wick, jr. “ “
J. C. Campbell, 2d “ “
Isaac Yervalen, Inspector at Harlaem River.
T. T. Schramke, Draftsman :
with some partial service ot Inspectors and Axemen during the Winter.
It is intended to have the computations for the final settle¬ ment of accounts, so far prepared during the Winter, that no material addition to the above arrangement will be required for the completion of the work.
The probable amount of funds wanted during the ensuing season for the work included in the above statements, will be $900,000, in addition to which, provision is to be made for extinguishing water rights on the Croton, and remaining land damage, which being a subject to be settled by appraisal, cannot be estimated at this time.
It is expected the contracts for iron pipes, and Croton Re¬ servoir, will be ready for final settlement during the month of January ; and for sections 88, 89, 90 and 91, by the 1st of May, and for 94, 97 and 98, by the 1st of June ; the two Reservoirs by the 1st of July ; and other work, excepting Harlaem River, during the month of August. The probable times when wanted :
From this time up to 25th February. . . .$125,000
“ 25th February to 1st May . 140,000
“ 1st May to 1st June . 150,000
“ 1st June to 1st July . 140,000
Amount carried forward . $555,000
Doc. No. 55.]
388
Amount brought forward . $ 555,000
From 1st July to 1st August . 135,000
“ 1st August to 1st September . 80,000
“ 1st September to 1st October . 50,000
“ 1st October to 1st November . 40,000
a 1st November to 31st December . . 40,000
Total . $900,000
The time of completing the contracts may vary somewhat from that above anticipated, but it is believed it will be found a. sufficient approximation.
Respectfully submitted.
JOHN B. JERVIS,
Chief Engineer, New York Water Works.
APPENDIX.
Communication containing the Estimates of the Chief Engineer of the Croton Aqueduct — the Estimate for laying water pipes for the year 1842, and a Statement of the present condition of the Water Loan.
Comptroller’s Office, ? December 30th, 1841. $
To the Honorable the Common Council :
Gentlemen — In addition to the estimates of the revenues and expenditures of the Corporation for the year 1842, I now submit a statement of the Water Loan, and the amount estimated by the Engineers, required to be raised during the year, for the continuance and completion of the work, hav¬ ing received the same since the general estimate was sub¬ mitted.
The amount of stock issued up to January
1, 1841, was . . $ 7,803,269 00
The amount of stock redeemable in 1870, issued since . . . . . 696,731 00
$ 8,500,000 00
Amount of stock of 1880, issued since . 120,500 00
Total amount of permanent stock issued. . . $ 8,620,500 00 « “ stock authorized . 12,000,000 00
stock on hand . $ 3,379,500 00
APPENDIX.
Amount brought forward . $3, 379, 500 00
Amount of temporary stock issued on account of Cro¬ ton Aqueduct during the
year 1841 . $1,368,261 00
Treasury advance to Water
Fund in 1841 . 379,005 04
Water Commissioners’ requi¬ sitions to Jan. 1, 1842 . . . 158,961 57
Croton Commissioner’s requi¬ sitions to Jan. 1, 1842 . . . 14,693 10
Estimate of En- gineersforam’t wanted to com¬ plete the Cro¬
ton Aqueduct$l,366,459 61 Ofwhichmaybe suspended on High Bridge, &c 450,000 00
- 916,459 61
Estimate for laying pipes, &c. by Croton Aqueduct Com¬ missioner . . * . 402,510 07
. Estimated amount of Interest on Water Loan Stock, Tem¬ porary Water Loan, and Treasury advances raised on bonds payable, to Feb¬ ruary, 1842 . 140,341 00
- $ 3,370,231 39
$ 8,268 61
These claims will consume the whole amount of the loan authorized, within eight thousand dollars, if negociated at par, leaving the three quarters interest payable, May, Au-
APPENDIX.
gust, and November, to be met by the revenue of the water when introduced, and direct taxation, as already provided by law. The balance of the loan negociated, at the present market rate, will not yield sufficient for the completion of the work according to the plan now in progress.
If the plan is altered at once by the Common Council, suspending any portion of the work not necessary for the introduction of the water, as by postponing the construction of the High Bridge, by deferring the further laying down of water pipes, by abrogating unnecessary expenses, and re¬ ducing all matters that can safely be contracted for, to posi¬ tive and limited contracts, it is believed the present loan can be made to accomplish the introduction of the water in the early part of the present year ; but unless such alterations are at once resolved upon, it will be necessary, during the session of the present Legislature, to apply for permission to make a further loan.
Copies of the estimates of the Chief Engineer and the Croton Aqueduct Commissioner, are appended.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
APPENDIX.
Copy of Estimate of John B. Jervis , Chief Engineer.
For iron pipe account, Nov. bill $2,600 62 « “ « Dec. « 2,500 00
- - - $5,100 62
Pay roll for Engineer Department
for November . $1,835 50
Pay roll for Engineer Department
for December . 1,659 95
Incidental bills for December ... 162 95
- 3,658 40
Amount wanted to close bills to the 31st of
December, 1841 . $8,759 02
Wanted for balance on contracts that are not
yet completed . $1,286,459 61
The above does not include the land damage and water rights not yet obtained on the Croton, which may amount to . 80,000 00
$1,366,459 61
(COPY.)
Croton Aq.uedtjct Department, ) New York, Dec. 20, 1841. $
Alfred A. Smith, Esq. :
Sir — I send you, agreeably to your request of the 13th, an estimate of the expenses of this department for the coming year.
APPENDIX.
There will probably be due for trench on the Fifth avenue, from the 1st of January to the 1st of March, per month, $2,182 06 $ 4,364 12 For water pipes and branches on contracts, from the 1st of April to the 1st of July, per month,
Cash . $78,486 58
Stock . 20,304 67
- 296,373 75
The rest of the expenditures may be assumed to be equally divided, from March 1 to De¬ cember, 1842, ten months, at $10,177 22 101,772 20 This last sum is for laying twenty-six miles of pipe, including the principal and secondary mains, and includes the following items :
Trenches Lead . . . . Labor . . . Cartage . . Stopcocks Hydrants
$ 23,725 80 24,027 01 23,754 59 6,474 80 13,230 00 10,560 00
$101,772 20
Total .... $402,510 07 I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
(Signed.] H. A. NORRIS,
Aqueduct Commissioner.
REPORT
Croton Aqueduct Commissioner *,
FOR THE aUARTER ENDING
Dec. 31s?, 1841.
DOCUMENT No. 56.
NEW YORKS
T*tO<F3 :ff
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DOCUMENT No. 56.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 17, 1842.
Report of the Croton Aqueduct Commissioner , for the Quarter ending December 31, 1841. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed .
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York :
Croton Aqueduct Department, } New York, Jan. 1, 1842. $
In compliance with the ordinance to create the Croton Aqueduct Department, the undersigned has the honor of presenting a statement of the expenditures made during the quarter which has just expired, a return of the water pipes and other materials on hand, and the quantity of pipes, &c. under contract.
As the water works are rapidly progressing towards com¬ pletion, and important questions concerning them are likely
Doo. No. 56.]
392
to arise, the undersigned deems it his duty at this time to pass beyond the usual limits of a quarterly report, and ta furnish such information respecting the portion of the work entrusted to the Aqueduct Department as may be useful up¬ on the occasion.
Up to the present time 101| miles of water pipes have been laid, including 1£ miles of the principal mains leading from the reservoir at Fortieth street. To fill up the densely ocupied part of the city will require about 20 miles more of distributing pipe, and to complete the connection between the reservoir and the wide spread system of smaller pipes, will require 5 | miles of the longitudinal or principal mains, and 6^ miles of the transverse or secondary mains. A con¬ siderable part of this work can be done after the introduction of the water as well as before.
The system of distributing pipes,, when completed, will be capable, of conducting a most abundant supply of water to all parts of the city ; and this too with a current of les3 than one foot per second in the small mains, and from one foot to three in the large ones*. In case of fire, however, the small pipes in the vicinity would discharge with a volocity much greater than ordinarily. The manner in which these calculations have been made is given in a note, at the end' of this report.
Our calculations of the head of water, and the quantity to be supplied,, are made upon a formula, generally esteemed for its accuracy. On applying it to the water works of Phila¬ delphia, we find that their two principal mains, of 22 and 2,0 inches diameter respectively, should convey to the cen¬ tral point! of delivery about seven millions, of gallons in IH hours. But in forcing this quantity through] those mains,, the head is. so nearly expended that: the water can be drawn, off only about four feet above the surface of the pavement! Applying the same rule to the two principal mains of the New; York Waterworks, 36 inches diameter each, we find that we can draw; off seven and a halfi millions of gallons
393
[Doc. No. 56.
per day, 80 feet above the level of the city ; and that, at 24 feet above the general level of the city, we could draw the enormous quantity of twenty-two millions of gallons per day. This is owing to the superior size of our principal mains, and to the greater elevation of our reservoir above the city. A tabular comparison of the two water works is given in a second note at the close of this report.
The introduction of water into dwellings and other build¬ ings, involves the establishment of a judicious plan for exe¬ cuting the work, and a well digested scale of charges for the water., The public interest will probably require that this department retain the control over such parts of the service pipes as lie in the streets between the mains and the front line of the lots; that they shall be laid according to the general plan, under a penalty ; otherwise there will be, not only great irregularity in the work, but strong temptations to frauds upon the water revenue. The annexed drawings will show different modes of attaching the service pipes to the mains.
The establishment- of a tariff of charges is perhaps the most delicate duty yet to be performed in relation to this work. If placed too high, it will deter people from using the water ; if too low, the income will be deficient ; and, in either case, the Treasury will suffer. In supplying ma¬ nufactories, and other large consumers, it is usual to charge a specified sum for the year’s supply. This sum is fixed, in some cases, by a positive rule ; in others, it is subject to ar¬ rangement by the parties. In cities where the water is cheaply obtained, this wholesale mode of supplying large customers may be permitted ; but in ours, where the cost of the work is great beyond example, it is doubtful whether it will1 afford even an approach to the necessary revenue. Few manufacturers can estimate accurately their business for one year tb come ; and in contracting they will be apt to agree for a minimum rather than a maximum supply. If a water meter could be constructed, and there is little doubt that it
Doc. No. 56.]
394
can be done, capable of registering the quantity of water used by each large consumer, the means of a just settlement would be had at once. Many would contract with confi¬ dence, when sure of purchasing at a fair rate, and of being charged with no more than they use ; while they would be unwilling, perhaps, to pay half the amount if charged arbi¬ trarily in a lump.
Something seems absolutely necessary to make the sale of water for manufacturing purposes more general in this city, and more productive in proportion, than it is in Philadel¬ phia. In 1840 the whole amount charged in that city for water supplied to dwellings was $107,549 ; for manufactur¬ ing and all other purposes $26,163. In two estimates of the revenue to be derived from the Croton water, one made in 1835 by the Board of Water Commissioners, and the other by the Comptroller in 1841, the amounts are thus composed :
Estimate for 1835.
For water furnished to dwellings at $8 each. . . $160,000 “ “ “ for all other purposes. .... 150,516
Total . $310,516
*
Estimate for 1841.
Water for dwellings (maximum) at $10 each $230,720 “ all other buildings (maximum) .... 449,129
Total.... $679,849
It will be seen that our factories, &c., are expected to yield, by one of these estimates, nearly as much as the dwellings ; and by the other, nearly twice as much as the dwellings. Whereas in Philadelphia they actually realise from their fac¬ tories, &c., rather less than one-fourth of what the dwellings pay. As this result will scarcely answer the purposes of our city, it seems imperative upon us to adopt a different mod© of selling the water.
395
[Doc. No. 56.
It would probably be inexpedient to measure out the wa¬ ter for private families ; they should rather be encouraged to a free but not a wasteful use of it. Ten dollars a year for houses of medium size, and five dollars for rear dwellings, would be a moderate charge ; and with regard to these, there seems no need for deviating from the custom of other cities.
The following scale of prices for water is proposed for consideration :
Annual Charges.
Dwellings according to size . $10 to $12
“ in the rear . . 5
“ with shops . 12 to 20
Privilege of washing pavement ... 6
“ bath . 5
Warehouse . 15
Boarding house . 12 to 20
Stable, private . 6 to 10
“ livery, per stall . 2
Charges by Measure.
Large boarding houses, stables, breweries, tanneries, public baths, packing or salting houses, and all other consumers, per hogshead of 100 gallons, by
meter . . . 4 cts.
Shipping, when supplied by hose at the wharf, per
hogshead . 20 cts.
If it be required of this department, as originally intended, to collect the income resulting from the sale of Croton water, then additional assistance will be necessary. An officer might he appointed to receive all such monies and pay over the same to the Chamberlain every two weeks j to collect all dues for water, keep systematic accounts of the transac¬ tions therewith connected, and report the same to the Com¬ mon Council every three months.
Doc. No. 56.]
396
The Aqueduct Commissioner could, as originally instruct¬ ed, receive proposals for water, make contracts, and require of each applicant for water, to file in his office, the Cashier’s receipt for the sum stipulated, before the water could be fur¬ nished. When once furnished, it should, be the Cashier’s duty to look after the rent for the same, from year to year, until alteration or discontinuation is to be made of the con¬ tract ; when the applicant is again referred to the Commis¬ sioner, who makes the corresponding change in the supply.
The first year’s annual charge could be paid at this office when the water is let into the city ; and the stopcocks on all pipes leading into houses should be kept closed until the day approaches. Then, upon the payment in advance of the yearly rent, they could be opened at once. Afterwards, the charges by measure could be collected quarterly by from five to ten persons, appointed for the purpose, and acting under the direction of the Cashier. As there will be no collections of this kind to be made until late in the year, these additional officers can for the present be dispensed with.
Respecting the sale of the Croton water for power, there is reason for acting with great caution. With the temporary arrangement for crossing the Harlaem River, the aqueduct is calculated to supply twenty-five millions of gallons per day. Assuming that the domestic and manufacturing wants of the city will consume ten millions, there will remain fifteen mil¬ lions to be disposed of. If this could be used near the upper reservoir, there would be no great loss of head ; but if used at any considerable distance from the reservoir, there must be extra lines of pipes to conduct it, or else the loss of head would be very great for this large quantity of water. But supposing the pipes to be laid so as to lose no more than 34 feet of head ; we should then have 80 feet elevation remaining. This, when used for power in the most econo¬ mical manner, would give for fifteen millions of gallons per day, 484 horse power. Each horse power would thus require 30,969 gallons per day, which at the proposed rate of
397
[Doc. No. 56.
four cents per 100 gallons would bring $12 38 cents per day, and as one dollar per day is about the maximum value for a horse power, it follows that pure water for power is worth less than one-twelfth part of what it is for other uses. Now, if this pure water can be had at this low rate, who will give twelve times as much by the meter 7 The Waste water, after carrying an engine or wheel, is as good as before ; and the greatest caution will be necessary to prevent this use of water being resorted to, in order to get it cheaply for other pur¬ poses. Thus, the superfluous water may become a ruinous competitor against the regular supply, and seriously injure the revenue of the works.
Where prudence authorises a sale of water for power, the most economical mode of applying it would be to use it in a cylinder as steam is used ; we should thus have an engine in all respects like the steam engine, save that the boiler and fire are dispensed with, and the pressure is ready at any mo¬ ment to act. A power so safe* compact and convenient, ought to command a higher price than any now in existence in this city. It should bring at least one dollar per day for each horse power, if sold at all for such purposes, and in every case where the waste water is used, or liable to be used for other purposes, it should be charged at full price by the meter.
To protect the works in all their .parts from acts of vio¬ lence and wantonness, and to prevent frauds upon their well- earned revenue, will require special enactments supported by adequate penalties. The undersigned has paid some at¬ tention to the details necessary to effect these objects with regard to the part of the work placed under his superintend¬ ence ; and, if occasion shall call for it, purposes to offer a future communication upon the subject.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
H. A. NORRIS,
Croton Aqueduct Commissioner.
2
■
.
399
[Doc. No. 56.
NOTE 1.
If we assume each tenement to be 25 feet in front, and to require a flaily supply of 175 gallons, or 28 cubic feet of water, to be drawn in twelve hours at a constant rate ; the relation between the distance or length of street to be supplied, the diameter of the pipe and the velo¬ city of the current in that pipe necessary to give the required supply, will be expressed by this equation :
r= D
105,2 da in which D, represents
the distance in feet to be supplied ; d, the diameter in inches of the pipe ; and v, the velocity in feet per second of the current.
The quantity delivered under different velocities, and with different sizes of pipe, is readily computed by the following formula :
d* x 122,72
in which V is the velocity in inches ; d, the diameter of the pipe in inches ; and Q,, the number of gallons of 10 lbs. each that will be de¬ livered in twelve hours.
The relation between the head of water, the velocity of the current, &c.,is expressed by this (Va_ 0,1)
equation TT=— — - - — ; - - -
-VS — JLVS+1,6 in which n is an abstract number determined by experiment to be 243,7.
g, 32,2 feet.
d, hydraulic mean depth ; in the case of pipes it is one-fourth of the diameter of the pipe in inches.
S, slope of pipe, or surface of current, i. e. expended length of pipe divided by difference of level of the two extremities.
L, hyperbolic logarithm of the quantity before which it is placed ; equal to common logarimth multiplied by 2,3026.
V, velocity in inches per second of the current.
3(Vd__o,D
Doe. No. 56.]
400
NOTE 2.
NEW YORK WATER WORKS.
Quantities of water capable of being supplied, according to the different velocities of the current in the principal mains ; also, the loss of head in each case, and the effective head remaining :
|
Velocity per- |
Number of gallons |
Loss of head due velo¬ |
Effective head |
|
second in |
supplied in twelve |
city distance, and |
remaining. |
|
feet. |
hours. |
sizes of pipes. |
|
|
1 ... |
. 3,817,020 |
. . . . 2tVV ft- • • • |
. 86tYo ft- |
|
2 ... |
. 7,634,040 |
. . . . 9tVo ft- • • . |
- 79-jYo ft. |
|
3 ... |
. 11,451,060 |
. . . . 19 ft. • • • |
• 69tVo ft- |
|
4 ... |
. 15,268,080 |
.... 31t\\ ft. . • • |
. 57 TW ft. |
|
5 ... |
. 19,085,100 |
.... 47t2/» ft. • • • |
• 41tW ft- |
|
5£ ... |
.. 20,993,610 |
"... ft- * ’ * |
. 33T|7 ft. |
|
6 |
,. 22,902,120 |
.... 65tVtt ft- • • • |
• 23tW ft. |
The reservoir at Murray’s Hill is 114 feet above high water ; and 89 feet above the general level of the city, assumed to be 25 feet above high water. The velocities being assumed, the loss of head is calculated for two 36-inch mains, reaching from the reservoir to Canal street, corner of Broadway, and the Bowery, corner of W alker ; the distance is 14,500 feet, and is about the average one for the city.
There are now laid one hundred miles of distributing pipe, and arrangements are made for some twenty miles more, to be laid within a year or two.
401
[Doc. No. 56.
PHILADELPHIA WATER WORKS.
Quantities of water capable of being supplied according to the different velocities of the current in the principal mains ; also, the loss of head in each case , and the effective head remaining :
|
Velocity per |
Number of gallons |
Loss of head due velo¬ |
Effective head |
|
second in |
supphedin twelve |
city, distance, and size Of pipes. |
remaining. |
|
1 .... |
1,301,081 . . . |
. 3 ft. ... |
. 63 ft. |
|
2 .... |
2,602,162 . . . |
• . IOtVo « . |
. 55xWft. |
|
3 .... |
3,903,243 . . . |
. 21/A ft- ... |
• 44xVo ft* |
|
4 .... |
5,204,324 . . . |
. 35tVo ft* ... |
• 30AV ft. |
|
5 .... |
, 6,505,405 . . . |
. 52tW ft, ... |
. 13t¥o ft- |
|
5^r • • ■ |
. 7,155,945 . . . |
61xVo ft* ... |
• 4xyv ft. |
|
6 . . . . |
, 7,806,486 . . . |
* T^tVo ft. ... |
. -6Ty<rft. |
The reservoir at Fairmount is 66 feet above the general level of the city. The velocities being assumed, the loss of head is calcu¬ lated for two principal mains, of 22 and 20 inches diameter respec¬ tively, bringing the water from the reservoir to the corner of Broad and Chesnut streets, assumed as the centre of delivery. The dis¬ tance, along the course of the pipes, is 9,900 feet.
Attached to these principal mains, there are 108 miles of distri¬ buting pipes, now supplying ah average of 4,034,638 gallons of water per day throughout the year.
Arrangement of Service Pipe used in Philadelphia.
Arrangement of Service Pipe proposed for the Croton Water Works.
Arrangement of Service Pipe adopted by the Manhattan Company.
*
%
•I
403
[Doc. No. 56.
Croton Aqueduct Department, ) New York, Jan. 1, 1841. $
REPORT OF EXPENDITURES,
From lsf October to 31s£ December., 1841, inclusive.
Water Pipes and Branches.
|
Paid Chollar & Jones . “ Ellicott &> Brothers . “ Stillman & Co. „ ; . |
. • $38,507 98 . 39,723 11 . 19,562 67 |
West Point Foundry Ass’n 12,347 14
|
“ Joseph W. Brick . “ Merrick & Towne . “ Wintersteen & Myers . . . . “ Stephen Colwell . “ A. M. Jones & Brother . . . “ David C. Wood . “ John Cumings . “ James P. Allaire . “ T. & G. Rowe . “ Postley & Co . . “ John C. Robertson . |
. 11,326 73 . 11,677 89 . 11,313 39 . 9,062 33 . . 8,614 42 . 3,982 64 3,405 05 1,783 81 935 37 785 19 85 63 - $173,113 35 |
|
Stopcocks. |
|
|
“ James Robertson . |
Hydrants.
|
“ T. <fc G. Rowe, castings . . . “ James Robertson, fitting up . |
$2,593 00 . 2,360 00 - 4,953 00 |
|
Amount carried forward . |
Doc. No. 56.]
404
Amount brought forward . $185,501 35
Repairing Stopcocks and Hydrants.
Paid James Robertson . 24 00
Stopcock Boxes.
“ John J. Moffat . 300 00
Lead for Joints. “ James McCullough .
5,330 53
Yarn for Joints.
“ William Maxwell . *
Cartage of Pipes.
“ Grout & Wandell . $1,744 50
“ Patrick Galligher . 163 89
*“ Henry Saelor . 193 88
“ John J. Cooper . 190 62
“ Peres Reynolds . * . . . . 187 51
“ Caleb Brush . . 192 14
“ Thomas Miller, Jun . 181 74
“ Matthias Carstine . 204 24
“ Abraham Teale . 191 88
“ Peter Spier . .'.... 185 63
M Isaac Yanderbeck . 191 99
“ George W. Whitley . . 177 01
“ Henry Yates . 162 74
“ Thomas Maher . 122 74
205 05
Amounts carried over
$4,090 51 $191,360 93
405
[L)oc. No. 56.
Amounts brought over .... $4,090 51 $191,360 93
|
Paid Cornelius Bunner . |
128 |
50 |
|
“ Peter Hamill . |
62 |
|
|
“ Nathaniel Selah . |
88 |
|
|
“ George McNamara ...... |
... 82 |
14 |
|
“ William Whitley . . . |
75 |
|
|
» John C. Wandell . |
17 |
62 |
|
“ Charles O’Neil . |
4 |
88 |
- 4,707 90
Digging and Filling Trenches , and repav¬ ing Streets.
Paid H. Y. B. Barker . . $7,525 87
“ Patrick McCafferty . 6,672 31
“ Blair & Q,uin . . , . . . 1,159 49
“ Peter Q,uin . 1,618 44
- 16,976 11
Repairing Sewers , Manhattan Logs , fyc.
Paid Thomas D. Howe . $295 76
“ William M. Montgomery . 64 75
“ Blair and Q,uin . . 59 50
- 420 01
Tools, and Repairing Tools.
“ John Ely . $319 98
“ John C. Robertson . 247 61
“ William Condon . 95 62
“ Baxter & Mott . 79 68
“ William Westerfield . 65 00
“ Moore & Vanderbeck - - - - - 39 24
“ H. R. Dunham & Co . 15 38
Amounts carried forward .... $862 51 $213,464 95 3
Doc. No. 56.]
406
Amounts brought forward . . . $862 51 $213,464 95
Paid G. Lyons . 5 25
“ John J. Brower . 2 12
- — 869 88
Whitewashing Pipes.
“ James O’Farrell . $135 95
“ John C. Dunn . 24 88
- 160 83
Patterns.
“ JohnCumings . $20 63
“ T. & G. Rowe . 20 04
West Point Foundry Association 8 00
- 48 67
Pine Wood.
William Whitley . 165 01
Lumber.
Hockman, Martin & Menzies $ 695 89
Campbell Moody . 1,033 61
John J. Moffat . 50 07
- 1,779 57
Contingent Expenses.
Gardner & Wells, timber and
joist . $ 47 61
Gould, Banks & Co. stationery 81 72 Cornelius Westervelt, plugs for branches . 5 00
Amounts carried over
$134 33 $216,488 91
407
[Doc. No. 56.
Amounts brought over ...... $134 33 $216,488 91
|
Paid H. R. Cox, muslin for maps . . . “ Charles O’Neil, charcoal and |
4 47 |
|
|
cartage . |
51 39 |
|
|
“ N. Travis, brick . |
5 94 |
|
|
“ John Jacob Astor, rent of lots “ Benjamin F. Goodspeed, com¬ |
200 00 |
|
|
missions on lots . . . " D. Martin, barrels, pails, brooms, |
25 00 |
|
|
&c . |
32 81 |
|
|
“ P. P. Ramsay, shoe thread .... “ William Plumb, sundry small |
4 06 |
|
|
items . Workmen’s Wages. |
47 59 |
505 59 |
|
u Foremen and Workmen on the lines, and |
||
|
at the yard, one clerk, and one draughts- man . |
10,627 44 |
$227,621 94
Quantity of the different sizes of Water Pipes and their Connections on hand 1st January , 1842.
Pipes, 30 inches diameter . 6,040
« 24 “ “ 1,791
« 20 “ .« 6,759
« 16 « « 9,009
« 12 “ « 243
« 10 « « . 288
« 6 “ “ 33,633
« 4 “ « 3,637
Total number of feet . 60 ,300
408
Doc. No. 56.]
Branches from 20 to 4-inch diameter . . . Caps “ 24 “ 4 “ “
Sleeves “ 20 “ 4 “ “
Reducers “ 16 “ 4 “ “
Bevel hubs “ 20 “ 6 “ “ •••
Circulars . . .
Frames and covers .
Stopcocks, 6-inch . .
“ 12 “ - - - -
“ 16 « . . . .
« 20 “ . . . .
“ 36 “ ..... . .
Hydrants, new .
« repaired .
“ old . . . .
326
251
233
142
69
48
60
47
29
3
3
1
23
12
10
Water Pipes and their Connections , under contract and not delivered , January 1, 1841.
|
Contractors’ Names. Quantities. Size. West Point Foundry Association 1,612 tons 36-inch pipes |
|||
|
Stillman & Co . |
24 “ |
||
|
Wintersteen & Myers .... |
|||
|
Ellicott & Brothers . |
. . . 400 (l |
“ “ |
u |
|
« _ |
... 418 “ |
■ 20 |
ct |
|
Wintersteen & Myers .... |
‘ “ “ |
u |
|
|
« .... |
£ 16 « |
u |
|
|
Ellicott & Brothers . |
11 1 |
‘ “ “ |
a |
|
Joseph W. Brick . |
u |
||
|
Ellicott & Brothers ...... |
‘ 6 « |
<c |
|
|
A. M. Jones & Brother . . . |
k ii t( |
a |
|
|
David C. Wood . . . |
... 5,386 1 |
“ “ “ |
(C |
James Robertson Joseph W. Brick
60 ... 12 100 tons . .
stopcocks
branches
REPORT
Statistico of tone
IN THIS CITY FOR TWELVE YEARS LAST PAST.
DOCUMENT No. 57.
NEW YORKS
THcrtrka
V -i~-& j '■ -'■h '■ '
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DOCUMENT No. 57.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 17, 1842.
Report of the District Attorney , with Statistics of Crime in this City for twelve years last past. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York :
I have at some labor prepared and now respectfully pre¬ sent for the use of your Honorable Body, a set of statistics of crime in this city. They cover the years 1830 to 1841, both inclusive. Schedule A, contains a full and particular statement of the indictments, trials, recognizances to answer, persons discharged, cases settled, and complaints not acted upon during each year, and each month in each year, in the Courts of Oyer and Terminer and General Sessions of the Peace. By adding the number of indictments to the num¬ ber of discharges, and to these the number of complaints re¬ turned, a fair average of the whole number of complaints during the year may be had. Schedule B, shows these ad¬ ditions. Schedule C, exhibits the whole number tried in the Special Sessions. Schedule D, exhibits the whole number
Doc. No. 57.]
410
of trials in the Courts of Oyer and Terminer, and General and Special Sessions. Schedule E, exhibits the number of convictions (in all the Courts) involving moral turpitude. Schedule F, shows the number of convictions in the General Sessions, and the particular nature of the offences.
While many suppose that crime is on the increase in a ratio greater than our increase of population, it is gratify¬ ing to find that the data furnished, fully sustains the con¬ trary.
It will be seen that the number of recognizances to answer, increased from 2,354 in 1830, to 3,790 in 1836, and that they decreased from 3,790 in 1836, to 2,179 in 1841.
The number of complaints not acted on by the Grand Jury in 1830 were 1,755, they increased to 3,412 in 1836 ; since when such cases have decreased to 950 in 1841.
Our population in 1830 was 202,589. Convictions then was one for every 321, whilst oUr population in 1840 was 312,852, the convictions were one for every 345.
It is to be observed, that the great increase of convictions in the year 1840 and ’41 are cases of petit larceny. The whole number of convictions in the General Sessions, in 1830, was 266 ; whilst in 1840, the convictions were but 239. The convictions in the Special Sessions, from 1830 to 1839, do not vary much. They increased from 349 in 1839, to 526 in 1840, and swelled to 666 in 1841.
Believing that this information would be gratifying to our fellow citizens, and useful to your Honorable Body, in refer¬ ence to measures about to be adopted for the improvement of our system of Police, the documents are
Respectfully submitted, by your most ob’t. servant,
J. R. WHITING, District 1 Attorney.
411
[Doc. No 57.
A.
GENERAL SESSIONS.
Discharged by Grand Jury-
Settled .
Complaints returned ■ ■ ■ ■
Trials . .
Recognizances to answer. . . Discharged by Grand Jury,
Settled .
Complaints returned .
256 36S 10 S5
Indictments .
Trials .
Recognizances to answer. . Discharged by Grand Jury
Settled .
Complaints returned . .
Trials .
jRecognizances to ans Discharged by Grand
Settled .
Complaints returned
Doc. No. 57.]
412
|
-4. |
! |
£ |
1 S |
% |
s |
I |
3 |
J August. |
1 |
j c |
% |
I |
3 H |
|
|
76 33 241 9 173 |
57 40 155 21 |
54 33 213 20 136 |
31 '227 17 3 202 |
216 5 231 |
56 204 199 |
36 333 25 3 335 |
69 33 327 19 2 307 |
3? 291 20 12 |
57 34 350 7 14 333 |
37 19 186 4 159 |
76 32 236 6 191 |
716 393 2988 72 2462 |
||
|
- |
4 |
£ |
s |
■S' |
1 |
1 |
j |
br. < |
i. |
o |
| |
8 |
3 S |
|
|
i |
84 46 233 6 155 |
41 1 Ofi 12 J |
46, 40 18 0 1361 |
35 19 309 18 5 215 |
32 226 216' |
! 167 |
60 420 3 354 |
1 1 |
41 462 7 |
46 29 7 11 308 |
26 16 13 337 |
51 27 283 7 266 |
3580 147 71 3001 |
|
|
4 |
£ |
1 § |
< |
5 |
I |
j |
| |
| |
1 | O |
1 |
8 |
1 |
||
|
22 240 12 198 |
76 30 264: 11 2071 |
78 30 337 17 213 |
17 200 |
44] 43 28 ‘ 23 209. 394 24 10 3 6 209 333 |
10 333 19 2 327 |
38 401 |
45 17 440 18 7 |
43 30 337 9 322 |
$2 3V 13 315 |
219 13 196 |
670 302 3790 180 66 3412 |
|||
|
18s, |
4 |
& |
1 s |
< |
1 |
<0 |
| |
< |
! |
1 | o |
1 |
i |
3 387 3476 207 2996 |
|
|
Complaints returned . |
2! |
> 4f ) 21 > 301 > 21 1 < 1 236 |
* 75 L 31 ) 234 r 21 1 19S |
! 45 ' 11 1 196 l 1C ! 17C |
1 6( 1 23$ I i ; 2ii |
1 4( 1 345 s la 1 331 |
> la 1 29C 1 IS 1 5 ' 26C |
i 44 i 50C I 16 ! 2 i 433 |
i 29 » 305 i 16 ; '2 t 253 |
84 251 27 |
60 28 275 |
70 21 2 17 11 162 |
413 [Doc. No. 57.
|
- |
4 |
A |
March. 1 |
1 |
s |
j |
August. |
i i |
o § 1 |
i p |
.1 |
|
|
D^^gedbrOrand Jury . |
52 46 13 20^ |
58 33 251 2 |
89 200 19 |
29 170 17 0 |
60 25 350 2 332 |
65 33 320 28 232 |
17 314 18 8 240 |
IOC 35 18 7 400 |
i 39 l 384 £ 20 |
96 111 35 39 156 368 26 77 16 12 120 214 |
84 231 78 170 |
i 767 5708 1 374 81 1780 |
|
i |
A |
s s |
< |
III |
,1 |
j |
I |
fj |
[7 |
! |
ii |
|
|
«SE!£%&%;Z:: |
90 £ 2 |
66 226 21 6 164 |
78 202 32 16 153 |
J 34 ^4 |
ill |
| |
119 21 56 14 |
76 1 ,s, JL |
00 86 I i 5 M |
j |
1 |
|
|
« |
i |
A |
s |
< |
If |
1 1 |
f |
I |
f j |
h |
i |
i |
|
ll^eTbyGrandTu^:: |
no 39 184 12 |
141 20 |
112 35 203 28 i 80 |
49 23 3 |
s 23i loll |
1 152 |
1 .1 |
5 1 |
ll'i |
il 25 20 81 81 |
34 A» |
1 |
|
4 |
i |
! s |
< |
i |
I |
I |
T |
a |
a |
i |
i |
|
|
106 28 215 27 67 |
43 165 6 56 |
81 173 23 65 |
39 'll 66 |
£ S 58 |
46 ig J |
J 2 |
2. 2 |
90 ' 59 ■ 34 : 7 : 78 ' |
11 |
s s 41 |
B 1 |
|
Doc. No. 57.]
414
B.
Whole number of cases tried in the General Sessions in each year.
Years. No. of Cases.
1830 . 3022
1831 . . 3906
1832 . . 3220
1833 . 3586
1834 . . . 3408
1835 . . 3790
1836 . . . \ . 4265
1837 . 4004
1838 . 3921
1839 . . . . 3714
1840 . 2651
Trials in Special Sessions.
415 [Doc. No. 55.
|
imo£ |
'^^«OOOC50COCO'^^05'rti COO^CrH©K»OMHMO K5»0<0<DK!0«ilCrf!OCfjq_ |
|
'JLdqwdddQ |
^foooc-. mcoi^t^GO.-<i-H<o |
|
•udquidaotf |
o.-it^oaxoincoaOCQOlo? t^m^'^mcnco-^ojin}^© |
|
•uoqopo |
OJtOOOtOisOOOSGOlOQO mtOKOlOCOtONCOiO^a) |
|
'JLdqwdiddg |
OiGOCO^OlCO^tD^r-i-^OJ rf<#»0 0)iv.(£)«MlO0SIS- |
|
•jsnSny |
cocomin'-n^-^i^co-^ineo ©tOCO'tfinOOcOCOCncOGO© |
|
'H\n[ |
•^^(MNOm^tCNONQO |
|
•dunp |
OT(BMM-I(0-I-J®K5KO cO'^»ncoi^tO'5*'3<oiina', oo |
|
■% |
CQi^mtOi^'^N.OlinaOK'*# <0'^COCOinin<£>i^COOJX>CT> |
|
7 udy |
mcj^KKOiooionosaio COMCOPIIOCO^COtHCO^ |
|
’youvjy |
©cO'*#i''-ojO'^inN.ci'— i© ■^'^COfOt^QO-^COCOrHOOQO |
|
•/iuvnuqotf |
»ft^HooCT5«r)cr>T-icoooo}toco CO^^COlO^xOfOOiOli^cO |
|
Tuvnuvp |
GOmb-COi^l^OOOi-iOJtDtM (Mice in in -qH tr> in cn no m |
|
Year. |
Or^OJMTPinOKQOOlCr^ COCOCOfOfOfOMCOlTOfO^'^ GOGOGOGOOOOOOOGOOOOOOOQO |
Doc. No. 55.]
416
Whole Number of Trials in General Sessions and Special Sesions.
|
Years. 1830 |
Gen. Sess. 537 |
Special Sess. 564 |
Whole No. 1,101 |
|
1831 |
624 |
584 |
1,208 |
|
1832 |
436 |
616 |
1,052 |
|
1833 |
526 |
668 |
1,194 |
|
1834 |
393 |
719 |
1,112 |
|
1835 |
354 |
650 |
1,004 |
|
1836 |
302 |
573 |
875 |
|
1837 |
387 |
553 |
940 |
|
1838 |
401 |
434 |
835 |
|
1839 |
386 |
614 |
1.000 |
|
1840 |
480 |
839 |
1,319 |
|
1841 |
468 |
1,004 |
1,472 |
E.
Showing the whole Number of Convictions for Crimes involving Moral Turpitude.
|
Years. |
Gen. Sess. |
|
1830 |
266 |
|
1831 |
351 |
|
1832 |
297 |
|
1833 |
270 |
|
1834 |
223 |
|
1835 |
218 |
|
1836 |
240 |
|
1837 |
260 |
|
1838 |
259 |
|
1839 |
220 |
|
1840 |
227 |
|
1841 |
239 |
|
Special Sess. |
Whole No. |
|
365 |
631 |
|
343 |
694 |
|
382 |
679 |
|
339 |
609 |
|
404 |
627 |
|
394 |
612 |
|
341 |
581 |
|
340 |
600 |
|
261 |
520 |
|
349 |
569 |
|
526 |
753 |
|
666 |
905 |
417
[Doc. No. 57.
r.
CONVICTIONS.
|
1831 |
183S |
! 183: |
183£ |
>183( |
5 1837 |
7 1834 |
3 183! |
3 1841 |
31841 |
|||
|
[ 1 |
||||||||||||
|
?"rglary . |
38 |
21 |
3C |
IS |
. 39 |
: 25 |
l 4i |
> 2: |
1 2; |
l 3< |
1 28 |
|
|
Manslaughter . |
a |
3 |
l |
i s |
< |
l 1 |
1 8 |
|||||
|
Forgery . |
li |
19 |
» 14 |
1 1 |
11 |
t |
IS |
l i |
) 4 |
|||
|
Robbery . |
3 |
e |
2 |
> ( |
1 4 |
|||||||
|
Assault and Battery, with intent to kill . |
jl |
6 |
2 |
3 |
6 |
s |
6 |
c |
1 2 |
|||
|
Grand Larceny and 2d offence.. . |
,7i |
88 |
90 |
85 |
52 |
78 |
103 |
76 |
71 |
7: |
6£ |
1 90 |
|
Petit Larceny . . |
Us |
88 |
88 |
105 |
74 |
66 |
55 |
88 |
112 |
9C |
63 |
57 |
|
“ “ second offence . |
67 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
: |
a |
4 |
|||||
|
Receiving stolen goods . |
8 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
9 |
3 |
10 |
|||||
|
Obtaining goods or money by false pretences . . |
| 3 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
13 |
3 |
a |
6 |
4 |
|||
|
Attempt to commit felony . |
12 |
1 |
7 |
|||||||||
|
Kidnapping . |
||||||||||||
|
Cruelty to animals . T . . |
||||||||||||
|
Nuisance . T , tT |
3 |
|||||||||||
|
Disorderly house . |
11 |
29 |
7 |
6 |
8 |
2 |
1 |
|||||
|
Assault and Battery . |
90 |
111 |
74 |
187 |
72 |
96 |
75 |
70 |
* *80 |
104 |
110 |
|
|
Selling liquor without iicense. . . |
1 1 |
2 |
8 |
11 |
9 |
12 |
41 |
\ |
1; |
26 |
||
|
Misdemeanor . |
10 |
|||||||||||
|
Rape, attempt to commit . |
, |
|||||||||||
|
Breaking prison . |
8 |
|||||||||||
|
Perjury . . . |
||||||||||||
|
Subornation of Peijury . |
1 |
|||||||||||
|
Attempt to commit arson . |
||||||||||||
|
Gambling houses . Libel. . .. . |
5 |
|||||||||||
|
Conspiracy . |
||||||||||||
|
Abandonment of child . |
||||||||||||
|
Procuring an abortion . |
||||||||||||
|
Selling, insuring, and advertising |
! |
1 |
7 |
16 |
10 |
|||||||
|
Violating grave . |
5 |
1 |
1 | |
|||||||||
|
445 |
479 |
376 |
468 |
3061 |
323! |
327 |
3711 |
330 |
301 |
345 |
394 |
DOCUMENT No. 58,
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 17, 1842.
Annual Report of the Public Administrator , with a state- merit of the Receipts and Expenditures of his Office , <§'c. (Spc., from January 1, 1841, to January 1, 1842. Ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Common Council of the City of New York :
The Public Administrator in the City of New York, in compliance with the requisitions of the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, hereby submits a statement of the receipts and expenditures of his office, from the first day of January 1841, to the first day of January 1842, including the balances in his hands, standing to the credit of the seve¬ ral estates in the books of his office.
Doc. No. 58.] 422
|
Balances. |
$1,674 77 87 09 117 79 8 35 47 14 30 29 6 90 10 92 16 97 |
|
|
Total amount of Ex- nenditures, including Commissions, Expen¬ ses Debts, Distribu¬ tions and Balances paid into the Treasury. |
$361 61 21 02! 330 35 79 03 5 04 8 83 56 14 22 05 52 26 10 81 13 60 30 59 3 00 57 00 8 60 188 69 14 75 195 36 0 41 14 78 17 86 0 76 18 25 10 68 |
|
|
Commissions 1 charged on i such estates. ^ |
: : : : : : : : : : : : : • • • • • ; . . . • . |
|
|
Total amount re¬ credit of such |
$385 46 188 69 39 96 |
|
|
Residence, or |
New York . |
. . . . CIO . . ... do . . . . . do . _ do . . ... do . _ do . _ do . . . . . . do . .... do . .... do . .... do . - do . New Orleans. . . New York . _ do . _ do . _ do . _ do . _ do . .... do . _ do . _ do . _ do . _ do . _ do . |
|
Addition. |
Grocer . |
Merchant . Grocer . Boarding house keeper. Musician . Book keeper . Clerk . Unknown . Merchant . Grocer . Jeweller . Clerk . Mariner . Architect . Dress maker . Laborer . Mariner . Waiter . Mariner . Confectioner . Mariner . Merchant . Nurse . Mariner . do . do . |
|
Names of Intestates whose Estates have been taken charge of by the Public Admi¬ nistrator or his predecessor, and which have been heretofore reported. |
James Tengrove . 1 |
James Valeton . Walter Coppinger . Elizabeth Carvine . Joseph Young . P. A. Heinz . Samuel M. Briggs . William Spence . John Estabrook . Philip Cavanagh . James Sumerau . Gustavus A. F. Dossin . Henry Corse . Peter Gassahang . Dorinda Powell . Michael Foley . Monson Ruckel . John Francis . Roderick Farrel . Alexander Laffaitteur . William Harris . Charles Stamm . Sarah Smith . Charles Daby . Edward Carr . |
.
423
[Doc. No. 58.
1
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35| |<|
Doc. No. 58.]
424
CD O O CO ^ CD 00^00
(M O) J> CO r}< CQiOOi
Names of Intestates whose Estates have been taken charge of by the Public Administrator , and which have not been heretofore reported.
425 [Doc. No. 58.
g g 8S3 2 §
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Doo. No. 58.]
426
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James J.
Doc. No. 58.]
428
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■*^s-SsaS=ll .
SJ51 2„,
|l|dQ-g||^fl . a „ o_ w
ELISHA MORRILL, Public Administrator.
429
[Doc. No. 58.
State of Neio York, )
City and County of Neio York, ss. : \
Elisha Morrill, Public Administrator of the City of New York, being duly sworn, says, that the foregoing ac¬ count, by him subscribed, is just and true, to the best of his knowledge and belief ; and that the same exhibits a true ac¬ count of the monies received by him for commissions and expenses, and of the total amount of his receipts and expen¬ ditures, in each case in the said account named, according to the provisions of the Revised Statutes of the State of New York, during the year ending the thirty-first day of Decem¬ ber, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
ELIJAH H. KIMBALL, Alderman of the Fifteenth Ward, City of New Y°rk, and Counsellor at Law in the Supreme Court •
2
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATOR’S
ACCOUNT
OP
Commissions and Balances paid to the City Treasurer , for the year ending December 31, 1841.
|
Names. |
Amounts received. |
Commis- j |
A ^.m.unts paid c Treasurer. ti |
Lmount* >h>rged |
|
James Tengrove . |
$361 61 |
|||
|
Walter Coppinger . . F. A. Heinz .1 . |
$385 46 |
$19 27 |
8 83 |
|
|
Oxiistavns A. F. Tlnssin |
7 81 |
|||
|
Henry Corse . . . . |
7 60 |
|||
|
Peter Gassahang . . |
25 59 |
|||
|
Dorinda Powell . . |
1 CC |
|||
|
Michael Foley |
46 00 |
|||
|
Monson Ruckel . . John Francis (black) . |
'”188 69 |
" * " 9 43 |
5 60 |
|
|
Roderick Farrel . . |
5 75 |
|||
|
Alexander Laffaitteur . |
39 96 |
1 99 |
||
|
Charles Stamm . . |
5 78 |
|||
|
Sarah Smith . _ |
8 86 |
|||
|
Edward Carr . |
9 25 |
|||
|
William Smith . . . . |
3 18 |
|||
|
Patrick JVPKenna . |
166 58 |
|||
|
Charles Jacobson. . . |
1 32 |
|||
|
66 66 |
||||
|
66 66 |
||||
|
29 84 |
1 |
|||
|
Julius C. Peck . |
121 61 |
L 3 0' |
1 |
|
|
William Powers . . |
169 2: |
l 8 41 |
3 695 31 |
i |
|
P ohprt Crrierson . . |
920 7( |
) 23 o: |
2 |
|
|
25 7! |
||||
|
17 51 |
5 |
|||
|
Jean B. Sonnette . |
23 3' |
7 1 1 |
6 286 11 |
0 |
|
Amounts carried forward . |
. $1,849 O' |
0 $66 3 |
7 $1,853 2i |
0 |
431
[Doc. No. 58.
|
Amounts brought forward . . |
$1,849 00 |
$66 37 |
$1,853 20 3 25 |
|
|
33 45 |
||||
|
William W. Farnsworth - |
8 25 |
0 41 |
44 70 |
|
|
17 03 |
||||
|
J K ^j>p id an |
46 94 |
|||
|
^ p] Pnlloms |
20 10 |
|||
|
C "P rrino- |
5 09 |
|||
|
26 34 |
1 31 |
7 57 |
||
|
15 59 |
||||
|
J *i ^ v |
5 01 |
|||
|
■jyj. | p |
$67 35 |
|||
|
21 52 |
1 07 |
|||
|
101 61 |
||||
|
29 71 |
1 48 |
|||
|
1 46 |
||||
|
Guillaume Marmiche . Benjamin Perry . . |
671 10 16 05 |
33 55 0 80 |
||
|
John WatftTs . |
11 82 |
0 59 |
||
|
David Golds . |
16 78 |
0 75 |
||
|
Anthony Bonnesset . |
5,813 47 |
207 83 |
||
|
Eleanor Booth . . . |
26 16 |
1 30 |
||
|
Henry La^nier . |
4 98 |
0 24 |
||
|
Alexander Morrison . |
38 99 |
1 95 |
||
|
John B. Irwin . . |
41 00 |
2 05 |
||
|
Dennis Dugan . |
56 43 |
2 82 |
||
|
Mary Smith . |
27 52 |
1 37 |
||
|
Antonio Camillus . |
80 00 |
4 00 |
||
|
Marion Allan . |
40 67 |
2 03 |
||
|
Mary Ann Palmer . |
218 78 |
10 93 |
||
|
Luther Lunt . |
7 08 |
0 35 |
||
|
Henry Lee . |
8 88 |
0 44 |
||
|
Oliver Crandall . |
41 56 |
2 07 |
||
|
John Williams . |
12 47 |
0 56 |
||
|
Charles Smith . |
35 72 |
1 78 |
||
|
Benjamin Ringgold . William Brown . |
35 00 4,011 55 |
1 75 162 79 |
||
|
Edward Millard . |
136 85 |
6 84 |
||
|
Joseph Worden . |
22 05 |
1 10 |
||
|
John Stefans . |
28 40 |
1 42 |
||
|
Jose Peregra . Gabriel Harris . |
67 05 48 97 |
3 35 2 49 |
||
|
John Williams . |
87 41 |
4 37 |
||
|
John TT e.nry . . |
30 21 |
1 51 |
||
|
Frederick Hans . |
121 40 |
6 07 |
||
Amounts carried forward .. $13,693 17 $537 74 $2,153 54 $68 81
Amounts
charged
Doc. No. 58.]
432
|
Names. |
Amount received. |
Commit- |
Amounts paid Treasurer. |
Amount charged to Corpo¬ ration. |
|
Amounts brought forward. |
$13,693 17 |
$537 74 |
12,153 54 |
$68 81 |
|
Valentine Zeigelor . |
16 01 |
0 80 |
||
|
William B. H. Prindall . |
9 00 |
0 45 |
||
|
Henry Steerman . |
114 40 |
5 72 |
||
|
George Rowell . |
24 71 |
1 23 |
||
|
Albert Ferdinand . |
22 15 |
1 10 |
||
|
William Harvey . |
14 25 |
0 71 |
||
|
Samuel Huggins . |
10 59 |
0 52 |
||
|
John Francis . |
74 35 |
3 71 |
||
|
William Dewees . |
15 89 |
0 70 |
||
|
George Cengoli . |
139 22 |
6 96 |
||
|
Christian Dean . |
19 20 |
0 96 |
||
|
Thomas Bascom . |
21 75 |
1 08 |
||
|
James J. Clement . |
52 97 |
2 64 |
||
|
John Hall . |
139 12 |
6 95 |
||
|
Frederick Wirthensohn .... |
364 04 |
18 20 |
||
|
William P. Dobson . |
21 49 |
1 07 |
||
|
Israel P. Smith . |
18 66 |
0 93 |
||
|
Simeon M. Lefever . |
33 92 |
1 69 |
||
|
John Street . |
18 77 |
0 93 |
||
|
John V. Bormeth . |
96 89 |
4 84 |
||
|
Diana Dubois . |
320 82 |
16 04 |
||
|
Lewis Somers . |
51 37 |
2 56 |
||
|
John Atkinson . |
82 98 |
4 14 |
||
|
Joseph Leo Wolf . |
1,957 88 |
97 89 |
||
|
John Ritter . |
22 07 |
1 10 |
||
|
William Burrows . |
32 43 |
1 62 |
||
|
T. George Harrison . |
18 66 |
0 93 |
||
|
W illiam Richardson . |
13 54 |
0 67 |
||
|
David Peabody . |
19 43 |
0 97 |
||
|
Ignes Pogatsehaig . |
18 76 |
0 93 |
||
|
James Perm . |
307 37 |
15 36 |
||
|
John Roberson . |
3 50 |
0 17 |
||
|
Jacob Wirtz . |
1,740 26 |
87 01 |
||
|
George A. Reinhard . |
16 77 |
0 83 |
||
|
John White . |
33 48 |
1 67 |
||
|
James Ward . |
25 44 |
1 27 |
||
|
Daniel Driseoll . |
336 92 |
16 84 |
||
|
F.dward C. Davis . |
43 63 |
2 18 |
||
|
Thomas Johnson . |
14 36 |
0 71 |
||
|
Lucius Kirtland . |
350 25 |
17 51 |
||
|
James T Moore . |
679 63 |
33 98 |
||
|
Frederick Rhoda . |
163 33 |
8 16 |
||
|
William Concklin . |
140 00 |
7 00 |
||
|
John Dubask . |
25 10 |
1 25 |
||
|
William H.Rolph . |
9 00 |
0 45 |
||
|
Amounts carried forward. |
$21,347 53 |
$920 17 |
$2,153 54 |
$68 81 |
433
[Doc. No. 58,
|
Name«. |
Amount received. |
|
Amounts brought forward. John Finck . |
$21,347 53 10 76 |
|
Charles Hall . |
9 72 |
|
Christopher Light . |
190 83 |
|
John F. Hottjie . |
37 12 |
|
Anson Cole . |
22 00 |
|
Peter Thompson . |
18 65 |
|
James March . |
319 25 |
|
$21,955 86 1 |
Amount
charged
$920 17 0 53 0 48 9 54 1 85 1 10 0 93 15 96
$2,153 54
$950 56
$2,153 54|$68 81
New York, December 31, 1841.
ELISHA MORRILL,
Public Administrator.
Doc. No/ 68.]
434
DOCUMENT No. 59.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 24, 1842.
Report of the Law Committee , recommending an Ordi¬ nance further to amend an Ordinance entitled “ Of Streets and Roads.” Laid on the table and ordered printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Laws, &c., to whom was referred the papers from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, relative to a further ordinance for the prevention of accidents in the public streets, respectfully
REPORT :
That they have attentively examined and considered the subject referred to them, and recommend the adoption of the annexed ordinance, as a substitute for the one passed by the Board of Assistant Aldermen. The reasons for the passage of this ordinance appear very manifest from the reading of the ordinance itself.
Respectfully submitted.
C. S. WOODHULL, EDW. S. INNES.
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AN ORDINANCE
FURTHER TO AMEND AN ORDINANCE ENTITLED « OF 8TREET9 AND ROADS,” PASSED MAY 9, 1839.
The Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York , do ordain as follows :
§ 1. It shall be the duty of every person or persons en¬ gaged in digging down any road or street, in paving any street, building any sewer or drain, trench for water pipes, or digging and building a well in any of the public roads, streets or avenues, under contract with the Corporation of this City, made through either or any of the departments of the said Corporation, or by virtue of any permission which may have been granted to them by the Mayor and Common Council, or either of the said departments, or by the Aider- men and Assistants of the respective wards, or either of them, where such work, if left exposed, would be dangerous to passengers, to erect a fence or railing at such excavations or work, in such manner as to prevent danger to passengers who may be travelling such streets, roads or avenues, and to con¬ tinue and uphold the said railing or fence until such work shall be completed, or the obstruction or danger removed. And it shall also be the duty of such persons to place upon such railing or fence, at twilight in the evening, suitable and sufficient lights, and keep them burning through the night, during the performance of the said work, under the penalty of two hundred and fifty dollars for every neglect.
§ 2. The provisions of the preceding section shall apply to every person who shall place building materials in any of the public streets or avenues, or be engaged in building any vault or constructing any lateral drain from any cellar to any public sewer, or who shall do or perform any work
Doe. No. 69.]
438
causing obstructions in the public streets, by virtue of any permit from the Street Commissioner’s Department, or the Alderman and Assistant of the ward in which such work shall be performed ; and also to all public or Corporation Officers engaged in performing any work in behalf of the Corporation, whereby obstructions or excavations shall be made in the public streets.
§ 3. The extent to which such railing or fence should be built in the several cases, are hereby defined as follows to wit :
In digging down any street or road, by placing the same along the upper bank of said excavation, or by extending the fence so far across the street or road as to prevent per¬ sons from travelling on such portion as would be dangerous. In paving any street or avenue, by extending it across the carriageway of such street or avenue, or if but a portion of the width of such carriageway be obstructed, across such portion, in which case the obstructions shall be so arranged as to leave a passageway through, as nearly as may be, of uniform width.
In the building of a sewer, by placing it across the car¬ riageway at the ends of such excavations as shall be made.
In the building of a well by enclosing the same, and the obstructions connected therewith on one or more sides.
In building vaults, by enclosing the ground taken for the vaults.
In placing building materials in the streets, by placing it across so much of the street as shall be occupied by such materials, and the materials shall be so placed as to occupy a space of uniform width. In all cases sufficient lights are to be placed upon such building materials, fences or railings, and kept burning during the night, as provided by preced¬ ing sections.
§ 4. In all cases where any person or persons shall per¬ form any of the work mentioned in the preceding sections, either under contracts with the Corporation, or by virtue of
439
[Doc. No. 59.
permission obtained from the Mayor and Common Council, or either of the departments, or the Aldermen and Assistants of the respective wards, such persons shall be answerable for any and every damage which may be occasioned to per¬ sons, animals or property, by reason of carelessness in any manner connected with the said work.
§ 5. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Roads to see that the requirements contained in this Ordinance, in regard to the erection of fences and placing lights in all cases of constructing or repairing the public roads, be complied with.
The same shall be the duty of the Inspector of Pavements in all cases of regulating and paving streets and building sewers.
The same shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Wells and Pumps, in all cases of digging and building wells, seve¬ rally, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each and every neglect.
§ 6. It shall also be the duty of the Street Inspector of the respective wards in which any of the work referred to in any of the preceding sections shall be performed, whether for digging down streets or roads, paving streets, building sewers and building wells or digging trenches for water pipes by persons under contracts with the Corporation, or for build¬ ing vaults or placing building materials in the streets, or con¬ structing drains or any other work forming an obstruction to the said streets, by virtue of permission obtained from the Street Commissioner’s Department, or the Alderman or As¬ sistant of the ward, to see that the requirements of this ordi¬ nance in regard to erecting the necessary fences and the plac¬ ing of the necessary lights, be complied with, and to make the necessary complaint to the Corporation Attorney, for any omission on the part of the persons referred to, under the penalty of fifty dollars for every neglect.
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DOCUMENT No. 60.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
JANUARY 24, 1842.
Annual Report of the City Inspector, of the number of Interments in the City of New York, for the year 1841. Ordered on file and to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Common Council :
The undersigned presents the Annual Report of Inter* ments in the City and County of New York, for the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS, City Inspector.
Doc. No. 60.]
442
THE INTERMENTS WERE IN THE FOLLOWING BURIAL GROUNDS.
African . .
Associate .
Baptist .
Catholic .
Dutch Reformed .
Friends .
German .
Hebrew .
Marble Cemeteries . . .
Methodist . .
Moravian .
Presbyterian .
Protestant Episcopal Potters Field .......
167 25 153 3,088 341 77 173 75 221 . 1,619 2
. 1,085 . 397
. 1,692
from the returns there died at the
Alms House, Bellevue .
Alms House, Hospital . * .
Penitentiary Hospital, Blackwell’s Island .
Small Pox Hospital .
Long Island Farms and Hospital .
Lunatic Asylum, Blackwell’s Island .
City Prison .
New York Hospital .
Orphan Asylum .
Long Island .
Westchester County . .
New Jersey . .
Lying-in Asylum . . * .
202
505
111
26
101
31
12
148
2
49
28
55
7
443
[Doc. No. 60.
REMARKS.
The report of interments for the year 1841, presents but little variety from that of the year 1840.
The deaths during the year were 520 more than in the year preceding. This increase has not been caused by the prevalence of either epidemic or contagious disease, and is not proportionally larger than the increase of population. The number of interments within the City during the year, including 584 stillborn infants, was 9,115. Of these, 4,851 were males, and 4,264 were females. Of the males, 4,587 were white, and 264 were colored. Of the females, 3,977 were white, and 287 were colored. The tables, while they show an increase of deaths for the year, exhibit a difference of mortality in certain classes of disease compared with those of the year preceding. The deaths from diseases of the respiratory organs, of the digestive organs, and from disease of the brain and nervous system, have increased ; whilst those from eruptive fevers, from diseases of the heart, and those classed as casualties and unknown diseases, were less than in the year preceding. The deaths from diseases of the organs of respiration, were 302 more than in the year 1840 ; and were nearly equal to one-third of all the deaths. The most frequent in this class, are Inflammation of the Lungs and their membranes, and Consumption. The deaths from Consumption were 1,470, an increase of 174 during the year. Of these, 93 males, and 86 females, were under five years old. The liability to death from this disease, varies among the different classes of our population. Thus, among the native whites it is as 1 to 9 : among those of foreign birth as 1 to 3; and among colored persons, as 1 to 3^. Of the deaths by Consumption of persons over 10 years old, 647 were native born, including colored persons ; and 644 were of foreign birth. Of the whole number of deaths by Con-
Doc. No. 60.]
444
sumption, 673 were white males, 642 were white females, 59 were colored males, and 96 were colored females. Between the ages of 15 and 30 more females than males die of Con¬ sumption, and' after the age of 30, more males than females. The months in which the greatest mortality occurred from this disease, were January and December.
Eruptive fevers have prevailed to less extent during the past year, and the mortality from this class of diseases has diminished 131 during the year. The decrease was as fol¬ lows : — On Small Pox, 23 ; Scarlet Fever, 25 ; Measles, 73. Of the 208 persons that died of Small Pox, 33 were children under one year old ; 30 were between 1 and 2 years, and 53 between 2 and 5 years, showing that 116 or more than one- half of all the deaths by this disease, were of children under five years old ; 22 of the deaths were of colored persons, and 10 were of foreign birth. The deaths from Erysipelas have increased from 46, in 1840, to 94, in 1841. The deaths from diseases of the digestive organs have increased 202 during the past year. The principal diseases of this class, are In¬ flammation of the Bowels, Diarrhma, Marasmus and Cholera Infantum. The mortality from the latter disease is steadily on the increase in this city, amounting, in 1841, to 452 deaths, an increase of 81 during the year. The deaths from fevers were 458, an increase of 132 during the year. The mortality from fevers was greater than in any year for many preceding years. The increase of deaths was as follows : — On Bilious Fever, 17 ; Remittent, 54 ; Typhoid, 12 ; and Typhus, 49. Of the 4,060 deaths occurring in persons over 10 years old, 1,877, including the deaths of colored persons, were natives of the United States ; 2,040 were of foreign birth, and in 143 the nativity was unknown, showing that more than one-half of all the deaths, were of persons born in foreign countries. The greater liability of foreigners to many diseases, has been noticed in former reports, and is Strikingly exhibited in the report of the present year in Consumption, Palsy, Apoplexy, Insanity, Organic Disease of the Heart, and
445
[Doc. No. 60.
in Typhus and Bilious Fevers. Of the deaths by old age, 70 of the 140 were of foreign birth. Of the deaths classed under Childbed, Puerpural Fever, Peritonitis, and Diseases of the Womb, 62 were in natives of the United States, and 62 were of persons born in foreign countries. The mortality among children under five years old was not so great during the past year as in the year preceding. In 1840, 3,976, or 51 i per cent, of all the deaths, excluding stillborn infants, were of children under that age ; while in 1841, 4,149, or 48^ per cent, were children under the same age. It will be seen by the tables that the deaths of white males, exceed those of white females 610. This inequality of the deaths of the two sexes is exhibited in almost every disease. The annual rate of mortality in the City for the past year, includ¬ ing deaths from all causes, was about 1 in 37 of the white population. This estimate does not include stillborn infants. The number of these,, was 584; white males, 318; white females, 228 ; colored males, 18 ; colored females, 20 ; or, 88 more males than females, and 22 less than in the preced¬ ing year. The greatest number of interments occurred in the month of August, and the fewest in the month of June. Of the interments included in this report, 808 of the deaths occurred in the Alms House Establisment, 168 in the Peni¬ tentiary, 148 in the New York Hospital, and 181 were of persons that died in the country, and were brought to this City for burial. More than one-third of all the interments were in the Catholic burial grounds. Persons that die in the City and are removed to the country for burial, are not included in this report. The exact number of these cannot be ascertained, the present law not requiring such to be re¬ ported.
Respectfully submitted.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS, City Inspector.
ANNUAL REPORT OF INTERMENTS,
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REPORT
OP THE
SPECIAL COMMITTEE
ON THE ESTABLISHMENT
OF A
W®SK m®WS®»
AND THE
2&eorsant?atfeiu ol tfte gams ?j^otts$ department.
DOCUMENT No. 61.
Bryant fy Boggs , Printers^ 27 Fine Street,
DOCUMENT No. 61
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
Report of the Special Committee on the establishment of a Work House and the re-organization of the Alms House Department. Laid on the table and directed to be printed under the direction of the Committee.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Whereas, the Ordinance creating the Alms House Depart¬ ment, in consequence of the increasing wants of that esta¬ blishment, and from other causes, is, in the opinion of this Board, defective; and whereas, for the preservation of the health of the inmates, and the necessity of a reduction in the expenses of the establishment, it is highly important that all the paupers within the walls should be so employed that the proceeds of their labor may, in a measure, defray the expenses of the same, therefore,
Resolved , That a Special Committee of five members be appointed to examine and report upon the propriety of a re¬ organization of the Alms House Department.
Doc. No. 61.]
456
Resolved , That the same Committee be, and are hereby- directed to take into consideration, and report upon the pro¬ priety of establishing a Work House, in which shall be em¬ ployed all the inmates of the Alms House that may be ca¬ pable of performing daily labor, at such work as may best suit their capacity.
By Frederick R. Lee.
The Special Committee, to whom were referred the an¬ nexed resolutions, feeling deeply sensible of the importance of the subject referred to them, and fully convinced of the necessity of a radical change in the Alms House Depart¬ ment, in order, if possible, to curtail its expenses ; and to propose measures by which the persons supported by that institutionLmay, by their labor, give an equivalent for such support ; which will not only materially lessen the expenses of the department, but will also be conducive to the health of the inmates : with this view your Committee, soon after their appointment, made a thorough investigation into the af¬ fairs of the Alms House as then conducted, which more fully impressed them with the importance of prompt and efficient action in order to remedy the evils that must be so appa¬ rent to every discerning mind. Their attention was particu¬ larly directed to the number of unemployed paupers; and, although many of them were aged and infirm, yet, in the opinion of your Committee, such light labor might be im¬ posed upon them as would partially reimburse the city for their board : others, not so far advanced in years, were found strolling about the yards in idleness; many of whom, from various causes, were debilitated, but still able to perform a moderate share of labor; and they feel themselves warranted in saying, from the observations then made, that the present system is an invitation to pauperism, and induces the indo¬ lent poor to seek an asylum in that institution; who, if
457
[Doc. No. 61.
obliged to labor for the benefit of the public, would find it to their interest, and more congenial to their feelings, to ap¬ propriate the product of such labor to their own benefit; by which means our city would be relieved from a considerable portion of the taxes now imposed for the support of the de¬ partment, and which must necessarily continue to increase, unless measures are adopted by the proper authorities to alter the system; for, situated as the City of New York is, being the great metropolis of the western world, it must be expected that among the great influx of strangers daily arriving, many of them in indigent circumstances, and without any means of support, they must consequently be¬ come a charge upon the public ; and although we are ready and willing to extend the hand of welcome to the unfortu¬ nate of every clime, yet it becomes our duty to expect from them, when provided for, to give, as far as their abilities ex¬ tend, an equivalent for such aid.
There are now supported by the public between three and four thousand paupers, a very small portion of whom per¬ form sufficient labor to pay the expense of their board ; and the amount now paid for the support of the Alms House and Prison is over one-fifth of the tax now imposed on our fellow citizens, which is a conclusive evidence that the sys¬ tem is radically wrong. Your Committee deem it proper to state, that they attribute no blame to the Commissioners of the institution; on the contrary, they are fully satisfied that a majority of those gentlemen have faithfully discharged their duty, and are entitled to the thanks of the Common Council. They are unanimously of the opinion, that the duty required of the Commissioners is entirely too great to be performed gratuitously, and that the Alms House and Prisons should be under the charge of different persons, and be made two sepa¬ rate and distinct departments.
Your Committee, anxious to benefit by the experience of those long connected with institutions of a similar character in the United States, a portion of which are so conducted as to
Doc, No, 61.]
458
defray their entire expenses ; and feeling satisfied that much more information could be obtained by a personal examina¬ tion than from any description that might otherwise be im¬ parted, have, during the past season, visited the alms houses and prisons of the principal cities in the Union; and the ad¬ vantages derived from those examinations they trust will be attended with beneficial results to the interest of this metro¬ polis ; they having, in preparing the ordinance offered for the consideration of the Common Council, endeavored to improve upon the various systems that have come under their observation.
The number of paupers in the City of New York, com¬ pared with any other city in the Union, being so much greater, it will be impossible to derive a sufficient income to defray the entire expense; but, if properly conducted, under the plan proposed, the amount required will be materially reduced, and will remedy many of the abuses now existing among the officers and agents now employed; who, al¬ though engaged at comparatively moderate salaries, yet the entire living of themselves and families, which they are now entitled to, increases the amount to an enormous extent.
It is proposed to divide the institutions now under the di¬ rection of the Commissioners of the Alms House, into five departments, viz. :
The Alms House Department.
“ Nursery Department.
“ Work House Department.
“ Hospital Department.
“ Prison Department.
The four first to be under the general superintendence of one person, to be known as the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, in conjunction with the Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, by whom the subordinate officers will be appointed; said Commissioner to receive a suitable compensation for his services, and de¬ vote his whole attention to the interest of the institution,
459
[Doc. No. 6*1.
and to the wants of the out-door poor, daily, through the inclement season of the year; which will obviate the diffi¬ culty that now exists, of the poor of the city congregating twice in each week around the office of the Commissioners, and remaining from morning till night, to obtain the small pittance granted to them. Each department will be under the direction of a Superintendent appointed by the Common Council, and who will be accountable to the Commissioner for every article entrusted to his care.
The object of establishing the Work House Department is, to employ every pauper whose health will permit at such mechanical or agricultural labor as will suit the capacity of the individual ; confining the articles manufactured to such things as may be required for consumption in the institu¬ tion; and any pauper neglecting or refusing to perform the labor allotted, to be punished or expelled.
It is, however, deemed unnecessary to lengthen this re¬ port by entering into details, as the annexed ordinance fully explains the views of your Committee.
In reference to the Prison Department, it has been deemed highly important that it should be separated from that of the Alms House, in order that the expenses of each institution may always be accurately arrived at; and also from the fact, that your Committee have satisfactorily ascertained the utter impossibility of having that attention paid to our houses of correction that is absolutely necessary, by those having charge of such an establishment as the Alms House of the City of New York, must certainly continue to be. With these views they propose that a Commissioner of Prisons, with a competent salary, shall be appointed, who shall have the general supervision of the Prison Department; and, in conjunction with the Committee on Police, Watch and Pri¬ sons of both Boards, to have the appointment of the subor¬ dinates ; the officers of the department to be elected by the Common Council, and to be accountable to the Commissioner for every article placed in his possession. Provision is
Doc. No. 61.]
460
also made for the employment of every convict, both male and female within the walls, in the manufacture of such articles as may be required for the use of the institution ; and for the separation of old and hardened offenders from vagrants, and those confined for comparatively small offences.
Your Committee, fully aware of the baneful effects of po¬ litical influence over our public institutions, have carefully endeavored to divest the accompanying ordinance of all fea¬ tures of that nature, and for that reason propose that the principal officers shall be appointed for three years; subject, however, to impeachment for improper conduct; but as this provision of the ordinance conflicts with the law of the State relative to the Alms House Department of the City of New York, it will therefore be necessary to obtain legislative action on the subject.
Your Committee have thus briefly given an outline of the changes proposed to be made by them, and relying upon the intelligence and experience of the Common Council to sug¬ gest such alterations and amendments as may be considered conducive to the public good, they respectfully present the ordinance for consideration.
FREDERICK R. LEE, ROBERT JONES,
DAVID VANDERVOORT,
A. HATFIELD,
JOHN A. UNDERWOOD, DANIEL D. BRIGGS, ERASTUS C. BENEDICT, WM. D. WATERMAN.
CHAPTER XIII.
The Mayor , Aldermen , and Commonalty of the City of Neto York, in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows;
TITLE I.
Of the Alms House Department.
There shall continue to be an Alms House Department* which shall consist of an Alms House, a Nursery, a Work House, Hospitals and the out door poor.
ARTICLE I.
Of the Commissioner of the Alms House Department.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council, one person to superintend and direct, in accordance with the laws, ordinances, and resolutions of the Common Council, all the transactions of the department, <fcc., who shall be known and distinguished as the “ Commissioner of the Alms House Department.”
§ 2. The said Commissioner shall hold his office for three years and until another is appointed in his place, and shall receive for his services two thousand five hundred dollars per year.
§ 3. The said Commissioner is hereby vested with power and authority, in conjunction with the Committees on Cha¬ rity and Alms House of both Boards, to appoint and fix the salaries of such officers and agents as may be employed in the department, except those specified and provided for in the ordinance.
2
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462
§ 4. The said Commissioner shall purchase, on the most reasonable terms, all articles for the use of the department ; and in all cases where, in his opinion, it may be advanta¬ geous, he shall advertise for proposals to furnish the same by contract ; and he shall report monthly to the Comptroller, the quantity and prices of all articles purchased by him for the use of the Alms House Department.
§ 5. The said Commissioner shall not, during the period of his appointment, be competent to hold any other office, the emoluments of which are paid from the City Treasury, or be directly or indirectly interested in the purchase of any arti¬ cles for the use of the department, either by favor, commis¬ sion or otherwise ; nor in any contract of which the expenses’ or consideration are paid under any ordinance, act, or reso¬ lution of the Common Council.
§ 6. The Common Council shall have power to remove’ said Commissioner from office, on satisfactory evidence being produced of incompetency, insufficiency, or of any violation of his duty ; and on such removal being made, they shall immediately proceed to fill the vacancy for the residue of the term.
§ 7. All requisitions for money shall be made on the Comptroller, and shall be signed by the Superintendent of the Department for which the disbursements are made, and be countersigned by the Commissioner. They shall specify the persons to whom such payments are to be made, and the amount due to each, and shall be accompanied by the original bills. And the Comptroller shall draw his warrant therefor, to the order of such persons respectively.
§ 8. All monies received in payment for board, labour, from the sale of any article, or in any other way, shall once in each month be paid to the Chamberlain, and the return thereof be filed with the Comptroller.
§ 9. The Commissioner shall semi-annually, or oftener if required, make a return to the Common Council, of the
463 [Doc. No. 61.
saames of the persons employed on account of the department, together with their compensation.
§ 10. No person shall be admitted into the Alms House Department, without the written permission of the Commis¬ sioner. If, on application, it shall appear that the applicant for admission is legally settled elsewhere, an entry shall be made in a separate register kept for that purpose, together Avith the place of the legal settlement of such person, in or¬ der that proper estimates may be made of the expense of such description of pauper.
§ 11. When families require support at the expense of the City, the Commissioner may, in his discretion, administer re¬ lief out of the Alms House. In such cases it shall be his duty to furnish the particulars to the Comptroller. All requisi¬ tions for this purpose, or any other contingency, may be paid by the Comptroller direct to the Commissioner; provided the advance at no one period exceed the amount of $
§ 12. Each inmate shall be provided with suitable food, and clean and comfortable clothing, which shall be as nearly uniform as possible.
§ 13, The house may be visited at such hours and under such regulations as the Commissioner may ordain.
§ 14. The Commissioner shall annually, or oftener if re¬ quired, report to the Mayor the number of persons admitted, discharged, died, and remaining in the Alms House Depart¬ ment; and also the expenditure and general state and condi¬ tion of the institution, together with the rules and regulations adopted for the government of the establishment, and the proposed improvements and changes in the Department. And the Mayor shall, by message, communicate to the Com¬ mon Council such parts thereof as he may deem expedient, or they may require.
§ 15. The Commissioner shall keep a record of the name of every person received into the Alms House Department: also their age, sex, birth place, occupation, if married or sin¬ gle, and the time of their discharge or death.
Doc. No. 61.]
464
ARTICLE II.
Of the Superintendent of the Out-door Poor.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a suitable person, who shall be known as the Superintendent of the Out-door Poor, and who shall receive an annual salary of dollars, and no other emoluments,
perquisites, or compensation whatever ; he shall give bonds with sufficient security, to be approved by the Finance Com¬ mittee, in the penal sum of two thousand dollars, and shall be removed at the pleasure of the Common Council.
§ 2. The Superintendent of the Out-door Poor shall at¬ tend daily at the office of the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, to receive applications from persons seeking relief, and shall distribute such sums of money, and such quantity of fuel and provisions to the out-door poor as the said Commissioner may direct. He shall keep a book, wherein shall be recorded the name and residence of each applicant fpr charity, apd the orders and directions of said Commis¬ sioner; which book shall be subject at all times to the inspec¬ tion of any member of the Cqpimon Council : and he shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the Commissioner, and pf which he shall keep a record.
ARTICLE III.
Of the Chief Clerk of the Alms House Department.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a Chief Clerk to the Alms House Department, who shall hold his office for two years, and shall receive for his services dollars per year, and no other perquisite or compensation whatever. He shall abide by Article i. section 6, regulating the removal of the Commissioner of the Alms House Department.
465
[Doe. No. 61.
'$ 2. The said Clerk shall keep in a set of books, provided by the Commissioner, a clear and distinct account, by way of double entry, of the money expended for the Alms House Department, distinguishing the Alms House, Nursery, Work House, Hospitals, and out-door poor, and of the provisions, fuel, medicines, and other articles received and made use of by them severally; also, an account of all articles sold, and moneys received, specifying each article separately, and the amount received for the same, and shall enter every estimate submitted for fuel, provisions, and other things in a book, to be kept for that purpose, with the name of the applicant, tmd the amount of each estimate.
§ 3. The said Clerk shall once in each month prepare a statement of the accounts for the last month ; they shall be examined and compared by the Commissioner, with the proper books and vouchers ; and a statement of the same having been signed by the Commissioner, shall be deposited with the Comptroller, and printed for the use of the Common Council.
§ 4. The said Clerk shall keep his books in the office of the Commissioner, and said books shall at all times be open for the inspection of the members of the Common Council.
ARTICLE IV.
Of the Superintendent of the Alms House.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a Superintendent, who shall have, under the direction of the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, the exclusive control of the Alms House.
§ 2. The said Superintendent shall reside within the estab¬ lishment, in such furnished apartments as the Commissioner provides, and shall receive dollars a year
for his services, together with suitfible living for himself, and his wife and children. He shall be removed at the plea¬ sure of the Common Council.
466
Doc. No. 61.]
§ 3. The said Superintendent shall have power to select from the inmates, proper persons as orderlies and nurses, door' keepers, runners, cooks and domestics, who shall he remov¬ able at his discretion,
§ 4. The said Superintendent shall daily send all paupers residing in the Alms House, capable of performing any work and not otherwise employed, to the Work House, where they shall be put at such labor as the Superintendent of the Work House is authorized to direct.
§ 5. The said Superintendent shall make his- requisitions in writing on the Commissioner of the Alms House Depart¬ ment, for all articles used in the Alms House, and shall keep an account of the same.
article v.
Of the Steward of the Alms House.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Commissioner, and the Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, and removable at their pleasure, a person who shall be known as the Steward of the Alms House. He shall re¬ ceive for his services, his own board and dollars per
annum, and no other perquisite whatever.
§ 2. The said Steward shall have, under the direction and control of the Superintendent, the charge and distribution of all articles made use of in the Alms House, and shall keep an account of the same. He shall see that the male inmates of the Alms House conduct themselves in a proper manner, that their clothes are taken care of, that their food is pro¬ perly served and distributed, and that they take the same in a proper manner ; that the rooms, yards, and other places under his care, are kept clean and in good order, and properly warmed and ventilated ; and that the male attendants observe his orders and directions, and in all respects do their duty. He shall also see to the opening and closing of the house,
467
[Doc. No. 60.
morning and evening; that the inmates rise and commence business immediately after ringing the bell, and that they retire in proper season at night; and shall perform such other duties as the Commissioner may direct.-
Article vr.
Of the Matron of the Alms UmtSe:
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Commissioner and Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, a Matron of the Alms House, who shall receive her own board and dollars per annum for her services,
and shall be removable at their pleasure.
$ 2.' It shall be the duty of said Matron, under the direc¬ tion and control of the Superintendent of the Alms House, to look carefully to the female inmates ; to direct the as¬ sistants in their duties; to see that the inmates are kindly treated ; that their food is properly served and distributed; that their apartments are kept clean and in order,- properly warmed and ventilated; and that the female attendants in all respects do their duty. It shall be the duty of said Matron to superintend the kitchen, the cooking, the washing and ironing, and take care of the clothes and bedding, and see that they are always clean and in good order; and perforin such other duties as the Commissioner may direct,
ARTICLE VII.
Of the Superintendent of the Nursery.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council, a Superintendent of the Nursery, who shall have the entire charge and control, under the direction of the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, of all that relates to the Nur¬ sery. He shall be removed at the pleasure of the Common
Doc. No. 61.]
463
Council, and shall receive for his services dollars,
together with suitable living in furnished apartments for himself and his wife and children, provided within the estab¬ lishment by the Commissioner.
§ 2. The Superintendent, under the direction of the Com¬ missioner, shall provide healthy and proper nurses for foundlings, and such other children as may require them.
§ 3. Such children as have arrived at a suitable age, shall regularly attend the school provided for them, and shall be instructed in reading, writing, geography, and arithmetic, and shall be required to attend Divine Worship on Sundays and other suitable occasions.
§ 4. The children shall be allowed such sports and pas-' tirales as may contribute to their health, but always in the presence of some discreet and proper person, and shall, (as much as possible,) be excluded from intermixing with other paupers. Each sex shall be kept in separate apartments. They shall be cleanly, uniformly and comfortably clad, and the utmost care shall be taken in relation to the quantity and quality of food-, and to its being furnished at regular hours.
§ 5. The sick shall immediately be separated from those who are in health, and transferred to the Hospital under the direction of the Resident Physician or his assistant.
§ 6. The Commissioner shall have power to establish at the nursery, a School for the teaching of such trades or oc¬ cupations as he may deem most conducive to the interests of the children and to the benefit of the Institution. The chil¬ dren selected to be thus instructed, shall be those who are maimed, or who, from other causes, are least likely to be sought by others. Such children shall be considered as apprenticed to the city ; if females, until the age of eighteen, and if males, until the age of twenty-one years.
§ 7. When the children arrive at a proper age, they shall be bound out to suitable trades or occupations, and provision shall be made in their indentures for their proper maintain- ance and instruction. When indentured to persons out of
469
[Doc. No. 61.
the city, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner, once in each year, to request by letter of the Supervisor of the town m which such person shall reside, information respecting such child, and its treatment by its master or mistress. The children are to be considered in every respect, as the chil¬ dren of the public under the care of the Commissioner, and if any of them who have been bound out shall be injured or ill treated, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner to procure them redress.
§ 8. The Superintendent shall perform the duties of Steward, and shall abide by Article v. section fy relating to the Steward of the Alrps House.
§ 9. The Superintendent of the Nursery Shall make his requisition, in writing, on the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, for all article's used in the Nursery, and keep an account of the same.
ARTICLE VIII.
Of the Matron of the Nursery .
There shall be appointed by the Commissioner, and Committees on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, a Matron to the Nursery, who shall, under the direction of the Superintendent, abide by Article vi. section 1 and 2, relating to the Matron of the Alms House. She shall receive her own board and dollars a year, and
no other perquisite whatever.
ARTICLE IX.
Of the Superintendent of the Work House.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a Superintendent of the Work House, who shall have, under the direction of the Commissioner of the Alms House De- 3
Doc. No. 61.]
470
partment, the exclusive control of the establishment. He shall be removed at the pleasure of the Common Council, and shall receive dollars a year, together with
suitable living for himself and his wife and children, in fur¬ nished apartments designated by the Commissioner.
§ 2. Every pauper whose age and health will permit, shall be employed by the Superintendent of the Work House, at such mechanical or agricultural or other labor as, on trial, shall be found to suit the capacity of the individual ; and on refusal or neglect to perform the work allotted by the person mi charge, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to punish such pauper by confinement in the cells, to be fed on bread and water for such length”of time as may be considered ne¬ cessary, which shall be forthwith reported to the Commis¬ sioner. And on such person refusing or neglecting three times, to perform the work assigned, the Commissioner shall expel such pauper from the Alms House ; and no person so expelled, shall be re-admitted.
$ 3. The hours of labor shall be regulated by the Com¬ missioner, and the articles manufactured shall be such as are used in the Alms House and Prison Departments.
$ 4. All the grounds belonging to the Alms House De¬ partment, or under the control of the Commissioner, not occupied, and that are susceptible of cultivation, shall be used for agricultural purposes, and improved in such manner as will yield the greatest revenue to the department ] but no money shall be expended for hired help in such cultivation, further than the employment of one experienced gardener. And the proceeds arising from the sale of articles thus raised, shall, as received, be paid into the hands of the Commis¬ sioner, and by him deposited with the City Chamberlain.
§ 5. As an inducement to the encouragement of industry, the Commissioner is authorized to allow and pay to the paupers, such amount for extra labor as may be considered by him to be performed in the factories or on the farmS.
§ 6. The Superintendent of the Work House shall make
471
[Doc. No. 61.
his requisions in writing on the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, for all articles used in the Work House, and shall keep an accurate account of the same.
article x.
Of the Resident Physician.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a Resident Physician , who shall be Superintendent of the Hospitals, and shall have the entire charge and direction, un¬ der the supervision of the Commissioner of the Alms House and Prison Departments, of all that relates to the- Lunatic Asylum, Hospitals, and their enclosures.
§ 2. The said Resident Physician shall hold his office for the term of three years, unless sooner removed on charges preferred against him by the Commissioner, and confirmed, on investigation, by the Common Council. He shall receive as a compensation for his services dollars
per annum, together with suitable living for himself and his wife and children, in furnished apartments, within the pre¬ mises, designated by the Commissioner.
§ 3. The Resident Physician shall annually, or oftener if occasion shall require, appoint seven assistants , who shall have been regular students of medicine for the two previous years, four of whom shall reside in the Alms House Hospi¬ tal, one in the Lunatic Asylum, one at the Nursery Hospital, and one with the Keeper of the Penitentiary, in suitable furnished apartments allotted them by the Commissioners. They shall be entitled to their board, but shall receive no other compensation for their services, except those attached to the Lunatic Asylum and Nursery Hospital, who shall each receive in addition, an annual salary of dollars. The said Assistants shall be subject to the rules and regulations of the Hospitals, and shall perform all such duties in the line of their profession as shall be required of
Doc. No. 61.]
472
them by the Resident Physician. They may be removed from office at the discretion of the Resident Physician.
§ 4. There shall be appointed by the Resident Physician, two suitable persons as Apothecaries, one of whom shall reside in the Alms House Hospital, and the other with the Keeper of the Penitentiary. They shall perform such duties in the line of their business as may be required of them by the Resi¬ dent Physician, and shall be removed from office at his dis¬ cretion. They shall receive their board and dollars
per annum for their services.
§ 5. The Resident Physician shall use all diligence in procuring the vaccination of all inmates of the Alms House Department and Penitentiary.
§ 6. The Resident Physician may issue tickets of admis¬ sion to the performance of operations in Surgery or the prac¬ tice of Physic in the Hospitals.
§ 7. The Resident Physician shall make his requisitions in writing on the Commissioner of the Alms House and the Commissioner of Prisons, for the supply of every article for the use of the Hospitals. He shall not receive any person into the Lunatic Asylum, or other Hospitals, unless regularly transferred from the Alms House or Penitentiary: and all persons when cured or convalescent shall be transferred again by him to these several institutions.
§ 8, The Resident Physician shall have power to select from the Alms House and Penitentiary, suitable persons, as nurses, door keepers, and domestics, for the use of the Hos¬ pitals.
§ 9. All persons who disobey the rules and regulations of the hospitals, or who refuse to submit to the medical treat¬ ment of the Resident Physician, or the assistants under his direction, shall be dismissed, with the concurrence of the Commissioner, from the hospital, by the Resident Physician, or shall be punished in any other way that the laws of the State or Ordinance of the Common Council, in relation to paupers or prisoners justify.
473
[Doc. No. 61.
ARTICLE XI.
Of the Stewards of the Alms House , Hospital , and Lunatic Asylum.
There shall be appointed by the Commissioner, in con¬ junction with the Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, a Steward to the Alms House Hospital, and a Steward to the Lunatic Asylum, who shall, under the direc¬ tion and control of the Resident Physician, abide by Article v. section 1 and 2, relating to the Steward of the Alms House. They shall receive for their services their own board and dollars a year, and no other perquisite
whatever.
ARTICLE XII.
Of the Matrons of the Alms House, Hospital and Lunatic Asylum.
There shall be appointed by the Commissioner and Com¬ mittees on Charity and Alms House of both Boards, a Ma¬ tron to the Alms House Hospital, and a Matron to the Luna¬ tic Asylum, who shall, under the control and direction of the Resident Physician, abide by Article vi. section 1 and 2, re¬ lating to the Matron of the Alms House. They shall receive their own board and dollars a year, and no other
perquisite whatever.
Doc. No. 61.]
474
ARTrCLE XIII.
General Provisions.
§ 1. No person having an infectious or contagious disease, shall be received or kept in the Alms House, Nursery, or Work House ; and the Superintendents shall give orders under the direction of the Resident Physician, for the removal of such person to the place appropriated for that purpose ; and every sick pauper that can be removed with safety, shall- be placed in the Hospital, or in a proper apart¬ ment, separate from those who are in health.
§ 2. The sick or convalescent, not in the Hospitals, shall receive such food as the Physician may prescribe, and have proper attendance, which shall be provided under the direc¬ tion of the Superintendents or their Agents. In the manage¬ ment of the sick, the greatest care shall be taken to avoid every thing that may be uncomfortable or injurious to their health.
§ 3. At the hour of 8 P. M. in Winter, and 9 P. M. in Summer, all fires and lights shall be extinguished in the several apartments, unless from sickness or other sufficient cause, the Superintendent shall otherwise direct.
§ 4. If any of the inmates shall injure the building, or any of the appurtenances, or commit any wilful waste, destroy or embezzle food, provisions, clothing, or other articles, entrust¬ ed to them, or belonging to the department, or be guilty of any immoral or disorderly conduct, or disobey the orders of the Superintendent, they shall be put in solitary confinement and fed on bread and water only, for any term not exceed¬ ing ten days, or shall receive such other punishment as the Commissioner may direct.
§ 5. Such persons, as in the judgment of the Commissioner are able to maintain themselves, shall be discharged from the house.
475
[Doc. No. 61.
§ 6. The Superintendents of the Alms House, Nursery, Work House, and Hospitals, before entering on the duties of their offices, shall give bonds, with sufficient security, to be approved by the Finance Committee, in the penalty of dollars.
§ 7. The said Superintendents shall be responsible for all stores, merchandise, fuel, and other articles put in their pos¬ session, and shall keep an accurate account of the same.
§ 8. The said Superintendents shall', once in each month, or oftener if required, hand over to the Commissioner all the property that may come into their possession by the death of the inmates.
§ 9. The Superintendents shall furnish the Commissioner at all times with such information as he may require, relative to the Department.
§ 10. A man and his wife shall not both be eligible to office in the department.
§11. All officers of the Alms House Department shall, be¬ fore entering on the duties of their office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before the Mayor, or in his absence, before any person authorized to administer an oath, for the faithful performance of his or her duty.
§ 12. The Commissioner of the Alms House Department may furnish to the Commissioner of the Prison Department, such articles as he may require, on such conditions as they may determine.
CHAPTER XIV.
TITLE I.
Of Prisons.
There shall continue to be a Prison Department, and shall consist of the Penitentiary, City Prison, Jail, and other pri¬ sons of the City of New York.
ARTICLE i.
Of the Organization of the Department.
§ 1. There shall be appointed by the Common Council one person to superintend and direct, in accordance with the law, ordinances, and resolutions of the Common Council, the Prison Department, who shall be known as the Commis¬ sioner of Prisons, and shall hold his office for three years, and until another is appointed in his place.
§ 2. The said Commissioner shall receive as a compensa¬ tion for his services dollars per annum, and
shall be subject to the Ordinance, Chapter 13, Article I. sections 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8, relating to the Alms House De¬ partment.
§ 3. The said Commissioner, in conjunction with the Committees on Police, Watch and Prisons of both Boards, is hereby vested with power and authority to appoint and fix the salaries of such officers and agents, as may be employed in the department, except those specified and provided for in this chapter.
§ 4. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a
477
[Doc No. 61.
Clerk to the Prison Department, who shall be removed at their pleasure. The said Clerk shall receive a salary of $
§ 5. The said Clerk shall keep in a set of books, provided by the Commissioner a clear and distinct account of all the moneys received and expended for the Prison Department ; and of the provision, fuel, medicine, &c., received and made use of. Also, an account of all articles sold, specifying each article separately, and the amount received for the same ; and shall enter every estimate submitted for provisions, fuel and other things in a book to be kept for that purpose, with the name of the applicant and the amount of each estimate. He shall also keep a register of all prisoners committed to the Penitentiary; their names, ages, birth-places, the offences, and the length of time for which they may be committed, and when discharged, eloped or died ; together with such other remarks as the Commissioner may deem necessary.
§ 6. There shall be appointed by the Common Council a Keeper of the Penitentiary, who shall hold his office during their pleasure. It shall be his duty to keep all persons com¬ mitted to his charge under the same penalties as the Sheriffs of the Counties of this State are required to keep criminal prisoners or convicts committed to their custody. He shall reside within the establishment, and shall be provided by the Commissioner with suitable furnished apartments and provi¬ sions for himself and his own proper family, 'and shall receive a salary of dollars per annum.
§ 7. The said Keeper shall be responsible for every article put in his possession for the use of the Penitentiary, and shall keep a regular account of the same. He shall promptly ful¬ fil the requisitions of the Resident Physician for every article allowed the Hospital by the Commissioner, and shall present an account of the same, together with the vouchers to said Commissioner, as often as he may require. He shall also furnish the Commissioner with such information as he may desire, in relation to the affairs of the establishment; and
478
Doc. No. 61.]
shall once in each month, or oftener if requested, hand over to said Commissioner all property that may come into his possession by the death or elopement of a prisoner.
§ 8. The said Keeper is authorized to appoint, with the approval of the Commissioner, a person as Deputy Keeper, who shall perform such duties as may be required of him by the Keeper. He shall receive for his services a salary of $ 400 per annum.
§ 9. There shall also be appointed by said Keeper, by and • with the advice and consent of the Commissioner, five stout and able-bodied men as Guards, and eight persons as Assistant Keepers, who shall perform such duties as may be required of them by the Keeper or Commissioner ; who shall receive for their services dollars per
annum. Said Assistant Keepers shall be mechanics, and each of them shall be conversant with one of the trades at which the prisoners may be employed ; and shall, when re¬ quired, instruct and superintend the prisoners in such trades as they may be employed at ; but no goods shall be manu¬ factured in the Penitentiary but such as may be required for the use of the establishment.
§ 10. The Commissioner is authorized to appoint as many out-door Keepers as may, from time to time, be necessary, to take charge of prisoners when employed out of the Peni¬ tentiary, at a salary at the rate of dollars per annum.
§11. There shall be appointed by the Commissioner a Steward to the Penitentiary, who shall, under the direction and control of the Keeper, abide by Art. 2, Sec. 14, relating to the Steward of the Alms House. He shall receive his board and dollars per annum for
his services, and no other perquisite whatever.
. §. 12. There shall be appointed by the Commissioner a Matron to the Penitentiary, who shall, under the control and direction of the Keeper, abide by Art. 2, sec. 15, relat¬ ing to the Matron of the Alms House. She shall receive
479
[Doc. No. 61.
her board, and dollars per annum
lor her services, and no other perquisite whatever.
£ 13. The Commissioner shall have power to appoint two suitable women, who understand the making of clothing &c., whose duty it shall be to superintend and direct the females employed in the sewing department, and shall re¬ ceive for their services a salary of dollars per annum.
§ 14. The officers of the Penitentiary, but not their fami¬ lies, shall reside within the establishment, under the direc¬ tion of the Keeper; and shall be provided with such apart¬ ments and living as the Commissioner may direct.
§ 15. All the officers of this department shall, before en¬ tering upon the duties of their office, take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before the Mayor, or in his absence any officer authorized to administer an oath, for the faithful per¬ formance -of their duty. v
§ 16. Any officer of this department, appointed by the Keeper, may be removed from office by said Keeper, with the approval of the Commissioner.
§ 17. Any officer employed in the Penitentiary depart¬ ment, who shall directly or indirectly practice any fraud, ex¬ tortion, or imposition in any way, relating to prisoners, or supplies of the establishment, or shall conceal any of the said offences, or wilfully neglect his duty, shall be dismissed from office, or punished as the law may allow.
§ 18. A man and his wife shall not both be eligible to office in the department.
ARTICLE II.
General Provisions.
The Commissioner of Prisons may direct so many pri¬ soners confined in the Penitentiary as may be required, to be employed on any of the Corporation property; and shall
Doc. No. 61.]
480
at all times, on the requisition of the Street Commissioner or Alms House Commissioner, furnish convicts to cleanse the public sewers in the City of New York, or at such other work as may be required. When so employed they shall be provided for by the departments in which they are employed.
§ 2. Any prisoner cofifined in the Penitentiary, guilty of improper conduct or disobedience, shall be reported by the Assistant Keepers to the Keeper, who, when satisfied the case is deserving of punishment, shall immediately, m the presence of the Physician, cause said prisoner to be punished by inflicting a shower bath ; -the force and length of time to be in accordance with the nature of the offence and condi¬ tion of the individual; no other punishment shall be in¬ flicted, unless by direction of the Commissioner.
§ 3. Every person confined in the Penitentiary shall be employed every day in the week except Sunday, (unless pre¬ vented by sickness,) the males in the manufacture of such articles as may be required for the use of the public institu¬ tions, or in getting out stone, or in the erection of build¬ ings on the public property. The females, in making gar¬ ments, or at such other work as, in the opinion of the Com¬ missioner, may be most advantageous to the interest of the department.
§ 4. It shall be the duty of the Keeper to class and sepa¬ rate prisoners as far as possible, according to the nature of their offences, in order that vagrants, those convicted of trifling crimes and their first offence, shall not be associated with the old and hardened offenders; but in such classifica¬ tion the Keeper shall be under the direction of the Commis¬ sioner. .
§ 5. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Prisons to furnish the prisoners confined in the House of Detention and Jail, such necessary provisions, fuel' and medicine, as he may deem expedient, on the application of the Keeper. *
§ 6. No person shall land on Blackwell’s Island, or lay or place any boat or water craft alongside or adjoining said
481
[Doc. No. 61.
island, except the officers and men employed thereon, with¬ out a written permission, signed by a member of the Com¬ mon Council, the Mayor, or the Commissioner of the Prison or Alms House Department, under the penalty of fifty dol¬ lars for each offence.
§ 7. All reports of the Keeper of the City Prison, which by the ordinance are now directed to be made to the Super¬ intendent of the Alms House, shall in future be made to the Commissioner of Prisons.
§ 8. The Commissioner of the Prison Department may furnish to the Commissioner of the Alms House Department, such articles as he may require on such terms as they may agree.
§ 9. The Keepers of the Prisons shall make their requisi¬ tions in writing on the Commissioner of the Prison Depart¬ ment for all articles used in the Prisons, and shall keep an ac¬ count of the same.
■
DOCUMENT No. 62.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
Report of the Committee on the Croton Aqueduct , in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the ac¬ countability of the Executive Committees of the Com¬ mon Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Joint Committee on the Croton Aqueduet respectfully
REPORT:
That at a meeting held February 3, 1842, all the members being present, the following bills were presented and passed :
Workmen’s wages . . $630 80
Cartage of pipes . 276 75
Postage and stage hire . 9 88
West Point Foundry pipes . . 1,233 68
Amount carried forward. . . . $2,151 11
Doc No. 62.]
482
Amount brought forward . $2,151 11
Ward, Stillman & Co. mending press.. 173 68
H. V. B. Barker, excavating . 245 76
Denniss & Dawson, do . 126 00
John Ely, tools . . . " 29 52
William Montgomery, lead pipe . 14 50
Ellicot & Brothers, branches . . 768 00
S. S. Wandell, cart . 20 00
$3,528 57
Ellicot and Brothers, pipe, payable in Stock $5,156 00
MOSES G. LEONARD, RICHARD S. WILLIAMS, F. R. LEE.
DOCUMENT No. 63.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Public Offices and Repairs , in accordance with the Ordinance providing for the accoun¬ tability of the Executive Committees of the Common Council. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Public Offices and Repairs respectfully
REPORT :
That at a meeting held February 3, 1842, a majority being present, the following bills were passed and ordered to be paid :
xsepunment. supplies.
Workmen’s wages . $452 89 $482 38
Edwin Nichols, . 21 62
James A. Coffin . 141 35
Aaron King . 86 26
Amounts carried forward .... $615 86 $568 64
Doc. No. 63.]
484
Fire Repairs and
Department. Supplies.
|
Amounts brought forward . . |
. . $615 86 $568 64 |
|
|
Schenck & Downing . |
83 |
|
|
Henry Worral & Co . |
78 23 38 94 |
|
|
25 00 |
25 874 |
|
|
26 00 |
||
|
Geo. W. Fordham . |
20 31 |
|
|
14 00 |
||
|
William 0. Webb . |
9 13 |
|
|
8 94 |
||
|
8 00 |
||
|
2 63 34 |
||
|
B. W. Blydenburgh . |
||
|
13 60 |
||
|
Thomas S. Timpson . |
... 70 80 |
|
|
786 20 845 82| $1,632 024 |
845 824 |
FREDERICK R. LEE, C. B. TIMPSON,
C. BALIS.
DOCUMENT No. 64.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
The Finance Committee , to whom was referred the An¬ nual Estimate of the Revenues and Expenditures of the Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York , for the year 1842, with the amount neces¬ sary to be raised by tax , ( see Document No. 48,) pre¬ sented the following Report , with a draft of a Law to be presented to the Legislature for authority to raise money by Tax ; together with the Ordinance making Appropriations for the Expenditures of the Corporation for 1842. Whereupon the Report teas accepted, , and the Law to be presented to the Legislature adopted , and * directed to be sent to the Board of Assistants for con¬ currence. The Ordinances were laid on the table .
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Finance, to whom was referred the communication of the Comptroller in relation to the receipts and expenditures of the year 1842, and the amount required
486
Doc. No. 64.]
to be raised by tax to meet the deficiencies of the year, re¬ spectfully
REPORT:
That upon examination they are satisfied that it is neces¬ sary to apply to the Legislature for power to levy by tax the sum of one million one hundred thousand dollars, in addi¬ tion to the taxes which the Board of Supervisors are already empowered to impose by the general laws relative to taxes in this eity. They have estimated the current revenues of the general fund at $275,000, and the ordinary expenses of
the government at . $1,021,000
Of the Lamp Department . 120,000
Of the Watch Department . ... 234,000
$1,375,000
Less revenue . . . . . . 275,000
Ordinary expenditures over ordinary revenues $1,100,000 equal to an average tax of 43 cents on each $100 of valua¬ tions.
By existing laws other taxes are to be imposed for the fol¬ lowing purposes:
To redeem the Floating Debt . $50,000
To support Public Schools . . . 95,000
To assess the Tax . 14,500
To collect the Tax . . * . . . . . 28,500
$188,000
or 7-| cents additional, making the average rate for the next year, exclusive of the water tax, at a fraction over 50 cents per each $100. The water tax, which must be imposed this year, will sensibly increase the burdens of the citizens ; but even in the event that no revenue is derived from the aqueduct, the increase on this account will not exceed 17
487
[Doc. No. 64.
cents, making the whole tax 67 cents per each $100. While your Committee are of opinion that the time has arrived when the Common Council should hesitate at, and well con¬ sider every project leading to expenditure, and refrain from authorizing any contract not absolutely necessary, and re¬ quire the most rigid economy in administering the govern¬ ment, in order that the water debt may be, as far as possible, unfelt by our tax-paying citizens ; yet they deem it advisable to procure from the Legislature adequate power to meet any and every emergency, leaving it to the necessities of the Corporation, and the wisdom of the Common Council, to determine, as it arises, how much of this power shall be ex¬ ercised; they therefore recommend the usual application to be made, under the direction of the Finance Committee, to the Legislature, asking for the passage of the bill annexed; but in the appropriation bills which they offer, they have pro¬ posed the amounts below the estimates of the Comptroller.
JAMES POLLOCK, EGBERT BENSON,
M. G. LEONARD.
AN ACT
To enable the Supervisors of the City and County of New York , to raise money by Tax.
§ 1. The Mayor, Recorder, and Aldermen of the City of New York, as the Supervisors of the City and County of New York, of whom the Mayor or Recorder shall be one, are hereby empowered, as soon as conveniently may be, after the passage of this Act, to order and cause to be raised by tax on the estates, real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabi¬ tants of, and situated within the said city, and to be collected, a sum not exceeding seven hundred and forty-six thousand dollars, to be applied towards defraying the various contin¬ gent expenses, properly chargeable to the said City and County, and such expenses as the Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York may, in any manner sustain or be put to by law; and also such further sum by a tax as aforesaid, as is required by law to be raised by tax in the said city for the support of common schools, and as may be necessary for supplying the deficiency of taxes upon any one and every one of the wards of the said city, imposed or laid during the year one thousand eight hundred and, forty- one, owing to the insolvency of the Collectors of the said wards, or any or either of them or their sureties, or their inability to collect the said tax ; and also for defraying the whole of the expenses for assessing and collecting the taxes to be raised as aforesaid (such deficiencies however to be assessed on the estates, real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of and situated within the wards respec¬ tively where they shall happen as aforesaid). And also,
Doc, No, 64.]
490
a further sum not exceeding two hundred and thirty- four thousand dollars by tax, on the estates real and per¬ sonal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within that part of the city of New York, which may be designated by an ordinance or resolution of the Com¬ mon Council of the said city, as the “ Watch District,” to be applied towards defraying the expenses of watching and guarding such part of the said city ; and also a further sum, not exceeding the sum of one hundred and twenty thousand dollars by a tax on the estates, real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated within that part of the city of New York which may be designated by an ordinance or resolution of the said Common Council, as the “ Lamp District,” to be applied towards defraying the expenses of lighting such part of the said city last men¬ tioned ; and also such further sum by tax, as aforesaid, as may be necessary for supplying the deficiencies of taxes upon all that part of the city constituting the watch and lamp districts, during the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, owing to the insolvencies of the Collectors of any of the wards of the said city, and their sureties, or their inability to collect the said tax, and also for defraying the expenses of assessing and collecting said taxes : such defi¬ ciencies, however, to be assessed upon the estates real and personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and within the said wards respectively, where they shall happen as aforesaid, within the districts aforesaid.
§ 2. The said several sums of money shall be assessed and collected in the manner provided by law for the assessment and collection of taxes within this State, except so far as the same may be contrary to the provisions contained and re¬ ferred to in the act entitled “ An Act respecting the collec¬ tion of Taxes in the city of New York,” passed April 6th, 1825, and in the Act to amend the same, passed April 20th, 1830 : also in the fourth section of the Act entitled “ An Act to enable the Mayor, Aldermen and Recorder, of the
491
Doc. No. 64.]
city of New York, to raise money by tax,” passed March 10th, 1820 : also in the Act entitled “ An Act authorizing a per centage to be added to unpaid taxes in the city of New York,” passed April 13th, 1835 : and also in the Act entitled “ An Act to amend the Act respecting the collection of taxes in the city of New York,” passed April 13th, 1839, which said provisions, so far as they relate to the assessment and collection of all or any taxes in the city of New York, are hereby declared to be in full force and effect ; and each per¬ son’s tax in every separate ward of the said city, shall be collected in one payment, and the money so collected shall be paid into the hands of the Treasurer or Chamberlain of said city, at such times and in such manner as directed by law.
AN ORDINANCE
Making Appropriations for other than the ordinary ex¬ penditures of the Corporation for the year 1842.
The^ Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, in Common Council convened, do ordain as follows :
That the following sums be, and the same are hereby ap¬ propriated for the payment of claims under the heads of ac¬ count herein respectively named :
Streets, Opening . $ 58,000
Streets, Regulating and Paving . 120,000 j
Liens on Lots, . 6,000
Wells and Pumps, . 8,000
Fencing Lots, . 3,000
Cleaning private Docks and Slips, . 16,000
Charges on Arrears of Assessments, . 3,000
Charges on Arrears of Taxes, . 5,000
Croton Aqueduct, . 900,000
Water Pipes, . . • • 250,000
Interest on City Permanent Debt, . 90,000
« on Streets, Paving. . . 15,000
« on Fencing Lots, . 1,000
« on Wells and Pumps, . 500
“ on Water Stocks, . 550,000
« on Revenue Debt, . 29,000
“ on Assessment Debt, . 13,000
Redemption of Debt, . 2,030,635
AN ORDINANCE
TO MAKE APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE ORDINARY EXPENDS TURES OF THE .CORPORATION, FOR THE YEAR 1842.
The Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York , in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
That the following sums be, and the same are hereby ap¬ propriated, for the payment of claims under the heads of ac¬ counts, herein respectively named :
Alms House . $250,000
Board of Health . 5,000
County Contingencies . ...... 20,000
Courts . 25,000
Coroner’s Fees . 3,000
Charities . 5,000
Cleaning Streets . . 80,000
Commutation of Alien Passengers . 100
Charges on Arrears of Taxes . 500
Cleaning Corporation Docks and Slips . 5,000
Building Corporation Docks and Slips'. . 40,000
Repairing Corporation Docks and Slips . 16,000
Elections . . 6,500
Registration of Voters . . .
Roads and Avenues . 16,000
House of Refuge . . 4,000
Intestate Estates . 1,800
Justices’ Courts . . . 14,700
Lamps and Gas . 100,000
Lands and Places . 8,700
Markets . 12,500
Doc. No. 64.]
494
Mayoralty Fees .
Reservoir .
Penalties . « .
Printing and Stationery .
Police .
Assessments on Corporation Property,
Repairs and Supplies . .
Salaries . .
Tavern and Excise Licenses .
"Watch .
Street Expenses .
Fire Department .
70
5,700
3,000
15,000
25,000
20,000
60,000
1,200
230,000
,30,000
20,000
DOCUMENT No. 65.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
Annual Report of the Superintendent of the Poor of the County of New York , to the Secretary of State. Or¬ dered to be printed and placed on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Superintendent of the Poor of the County of New York, in pursuance of the provisions of the Revised Statutes for the relief and support of indigent persons, presents to the Secretary of State his Annual Report as follows :
496
Doc. No. 65.]
The number of paupers relieved or supported During the year preceding the 1st Dec. inst.
The whole expense of such support was
$17 L, 937 90
Of this sum there was paid for transportation
of paupers . $627 60
Of this sum there was paid for support of out
door poor . . • $22,639 12 23,266 ( 2
Allowance made to Superintendent .
Allowance made to Keepers and Officers .... The actual value of the labour of the paupers
maintained was .
The sum actually expended, over and above the labor and earnings of the paupers, divided by the average number kept during the year, gives 51 dollars 27 cents and 9 mills per year, or 98 cents 6 mills per week as the actual expense of keeping each pauper.
The County Poor House has 250 acres of land attached to it, and the whole establishment
is valued at . . *
The number of persons in the Poor House on
the 1st Dec. instant, was .
Of this number there were of females .
(t « « males .
$148,671 18 1,000 00 9,326 78
27,551 96
600,000
2991
1243
1748
Of the females there were of the ages of 16
years and under .
Of the males there wer6 of the ages of 16 years
and under . . .
Of the persons relieved or supported during the year there were 2620 foreigners, 503 lunatics, 32 idiots, and 9 mutes: of the mutes 6 were between the ages of 10 and 25 years.
497 [Doc No. 65.
The number of paupers received into the Poor
House during the year was . 4476
Born in the Poor House. . . . 124
Died during the year . . . . . 922
Bound out . 370
Discharged . 3371
Absconded . 108
Average number of children who attended school during the year five hours each day. 431
JOHN MYER,
■Superintendent.
'
'
DOCUMENT No. 66.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 7, 1842.
Annual Report of the Trustees of the Sailors1 Snug Har-> bor. Ordered on file and to be printed for the use of the members.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of Next) York:
The Annual Report of the Trustees of “ The Sailors’ Snug Harbor,” showing the Receipts and Disbursements on ac¬ count of the Trust, from 31st December, 1840, to 31st De¬ cember, 1841, also the present state of the funds and esti¬ mates of the income for the year 1842.
Doc. No. 66.]
500
RECEIPTS.
Balance of Cash on fraud 31st December, 1840 . . . . . $2,303 31
Dividends on Bank Stocks . . . 881 00
Interest on Bonds and Mortgages . 8,021 60
Outstanding Interest collected . 164 60
Ground Rent of Lots in Fifteenth ward for 1841 . . 19,885 69
Ground Rent of Lots in First ward . 2>850 00
Outstanding Ground Rent collected . . . . . 1,292 13
Proceeds of Sundries sold from the Farm, Board of Mechanics employed on the
buildings, &c.. . . .
Consents to transfer Leases $48 ; Scaffolding sold $32 25. . . . .
DISBURSEMENTS.
On account of Building the West wing. . . . .
On account of Building the East wing. . . . . . . . .
Repairs and Improvements to the main building ; . .
Improvements to the Farm, Repairing Roads, &c .
Taxes and Assessments for Staten Island and New York City .
Salaries of Rev. Messrs. Mulligan & Fraser (Chaplains) .
Expenses of the Farm, including Wages of Farmer and Assistant
Farmer .
Wages of the Gardener (nine months) .
Annual Legacy to Betsey Shields . .
Salaries and Contingent Expenses .
Premium of Insurance .
Interest on Note discounted by Manhattan Company .
Library for the Institution . . . . . . . .
Hooks end Stationery . . .
$3,572 72 3,051 24 859 64 697 04 460 32 520 00
949 05 140 00 100 00 2,922 82 144 58 95 60 402 12
$13,817 63
Groceries, Bread, Light and Fuel. . .
Butcher’s bill for supplies of Beef .
Wages of Steward, Baker, Cook, Matron and Nurses. .
Wearing Apparel for tlpe Men .
Furniture and Bedding . . . .
Medicine and Attendance .
Shoes and Mending . . • • • . .
Freight and Tickets for Steamboat. . .
Board and Funeral Expenses of E. Glover, at Bloom-
ingdale Asylum .
Refreshments for the Trustees .
Funeral Expenses of deceased Inmates .
$3,951 38 1,937 68 1,401 00 808 47 729 29 491 70 249 60 165 53
67 00
Balance of Cash on hand 31st December, 1841 ....
10,006
12,850
501
[Doc. No. 66.
OUTSTANDING RENT SINCE NOVEMBER 1, 1841.
John C. Clussman . . . $ 6S 00
William D. Disbrow . 28 05
Dudley Selden . 80 00
William B. Lawrence . 185 00
James Blackstock . 62 50
Waldron B. Post . 35 00
Isaac Gibson . 35 00
Samuel Sherwood. . .
Henry Ibbotson. ...
Catharine I. Harrison.
Cornelius Heyer ....
John Cooper . 37 50
Amicartha Miller . 37 50
Thomas J. Oakley . 65 00
P. L. Vandervoort. . . 36 88
Gordon Burnham . 36 88
Levi Coit . 27 50
Nicholas H. Brigham . 62 50
William P. Hallett . . 437 50
William Borro we . 260 00
OUTSTANDING INTEREST SINCE NOVEMBER 1, 1841.
William B. Lawrence . $315 00
jbfiary Okill . . . 300 00
- $615 00
ESTIMATED INCOME FOR THE YEAR 1842.
Ground Rent of Lots in Fifteenth Ward . $21,548 75
Ground Rent of Lots in First Ward . 2,850 00
Interest on Bonds and Montgages . 8,636 60
Dividends on Bank Stock . 881 00
— - $33,916 35
Errors excepted.
New Yoke, 31st December, 1841.
W. S. GREENLEAF, Treasurer.
§ § 8 2
Doc No. 66.]
502
The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees of “ The Sailor’s Snug Harbor,” having attended to the duties assigned them pursuant to a standing order of the Board, do
REPORT.
That they have carefully examined the Treasurer’s Ac¬ counts, from the 1st January to 31st December, 1841, and have compared the several vouchers ; also the evidence of the Bank Stock and of the Bonds and Mortgages, and have found the same to be correct, and that there is a balance of cash in favor of the Trustees of twelve thousand eight hun¬ dred and fifty dollars and forty-two cents.
ISAAC CAROW, President Chamber of Commerce , and Chairman Executive Committee.
THOMAS H. MERRY,
Vice President Marine Society.
ROBT. H. MORRIS,
Mayor of the City of New York.
New York, 31st December, 1841.
DOCUMENT No. 67.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 21, 1842.
Report of the Special Committee on the Application of Washington Irving , Benjamin F. Butler, and others , for the erection of a Statue of Washington. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee to whom was referred the annexed memo¬ rial of Washington Irving, William C. Bryant, James K. Paulding, Benjamin F. Butler, and others, soliciting the erection of a statue of Washington, by James Y. Stout, beg leave respectfully to
REPORT :
That in company with other members of the Common Council they have examined a bust, the model in part of the proposed statue of Washington, at the rooms of the artist; that they have been impressed with the force and vigor of conception exhibited in the countenance, and the decided
Doc. No. 67.]
504
genius with which the work, so far advanced, is executed. The artist has chosen the period of manhood in the life of Washington; and the bust, without deviating from the well known and universally recognized features of the Father of his Country, exhibits the ideal of manly beauty and states¬ man-like dignity. Taken altogether, the design gives promise of such a statue as would prove satisfactory to the long che¬ rished hopes of the citizens of New York.
On a subject of so much interest your Committee feel themselves bound to enter into a more particular detail of the plan and conditions under which the artist proposes this statue shall be constructed. It is the desire of the sculptor (a desire in which your Committee fully concur) to erect a statue of twelve feet in height, to be placed on a suitable pedestal, and to stand in the open air.
The commencement of this work would be the preparation of the model, for which, fully completed, an appropriation is desired by the artist of ten thousand dollars. This model would be the essential part of the work, exhibiting all the peculiar genius of the sculptor ; the rest, its execution in marble, requiring chiefly mechanical practice. The model is not perishable at once. It will last, with care, for five hundred years. There are models of that age in the Cathe¬ dral at Florence, and nearly perfect.
That the erection of such a statue of Washington as is now contemplated and advised by your Committee, comes within the legitimate powers of a municipal body, cannot reasonably be doubted.
The subject of the statue is one upon which there is no cavil or disagreement; opposite sects and parties; — all who are lovers of their country, by whatever political or religious name they are known, unite in gratitude to him. No eulogy on Washington is required — and therefore, for so much of the matter as relates to the subject of the statue, your Com¬ mittee will presume upon the unanimous and hearty con¬ currence of the Common Council.
505
[Doc. No, 67.
The rapidly advancing metropolitan character of the city, it appears to your Committee, calls imperatively for a work of this kind and importance.
The city needs public ornaments that shall be the property of the citizens ; in which the poorest may feel that he has his own rights, and look with pride to his own work of art. It has been the practice of all States, and especially of all republics, to cherish such works ; that the people may be the more endeared to their form of government, and be always mindful of their true national benefactors. Such works are uthe cheap defence of nations they speak vividly to the eye and to the mind — a statue tells but one story; it has no false readings or perversions; it cannot lie; its speaks only of honor and true glory. It is believed by your Committee that this work would prove one of the best guardians of the city. It was the saying of one who spoke wisely of human nature, of a pure and beautiful picture, “ that no mean ac¬ tion could be done in its presence.” Something of this mo¬ ral influence would be disseminated by a statue of Washing¬ ton ; preserving to us the greatness and aspect of virtue he wore when living; a countenance that repelled every thing that was base or ignoble.
The work, it appears to your Committee, is especially de¬ manded at this time. As a matter of city pride, it has been neglected too long. The Capitol has her statue of Wash¬ ington: Boston has hers; and we are bound by the tenure by which New York holds her pre-eminence, to place our¬ selves in the front rank.
To the cost of the work your Committee believe that every householder and voter of your city will contribute cheerfully; that it would create general enthusiasm, and that this Common Council would but anticipate the wishes of the people by making an appropriation to raise a monument to Washington.
The public press in this city and throughout the country, have spoken freely and favorably (and without dissent) of
Doc. No. 67.]
506
this project; and have avowed their intention to aid, as far as they can, in this noble enterprise ; 7 and even the stranger is pleased with the plan ; feeling, in some degree, ths\t Washing¬ ton belongs to other lands as well as this. The alliance of the subject with the art of the statuary, is another happy feature. The art alone is acknowledged to be an index of the refine¬ ment of a people, and it seems to have been created for the high purpose of reproducing and perpetuating all that is bright and beautiful that otherwise would slowly fade away ; for now, amid the ashes of nations that rose and fell, far, far eyray in the past, do we not see “ arisen again ” the resem¬ blance of their mighty dead — arisen again to rekindle the glories of their country — and standing forth in their new life as full of strength as they stood centuries before the Christian era. Such is the durability of sculpture, and such the proud privilege we. may enjoy of marking, in im¬ perishable letters, the brightest part of the story of our land.
For the talents of the sculptor, we may add our own con¬ victions of his genius from the examination of the model, to the sense of the public favor shown in the success of his exhibitions of statuary, and the character given to his appli¬ cation by the names of the petitioners. Never h(as come before your Honorable Board a more respectable petition : it includes names belonging to the highest in each of the learned professions, representatives of the merchants and of the useful arts. Among those names is one, that of John Trumbull, who is gratefully associated with the history of his country, who was the personal friend of Washington. It is understood to be his desire, if the work be commenced speedily, to assist at laying the foundation stone ; and in the opinion of your Committee to no man now living could such an honor be more properly awarded. Your Committee have been addressed by several of the signers of the memo¬ rial, among them Mr. Butler and the Rev. Dr. Hawks. These gentlemen promise (in the event of the Common Council making the above named appropriation) that they
507
[Doc. No. 67.
will give their .eyery influence to place the model in mar¬ ble. Dr. Hawks compared Mr. Stout’s power as a sculptor, with the most famous .sculptors of Europe, saying — “ 1 have seen the finest works of statuary abroad, and several of the best statues of Washington , and I believe from what I have seen of Mr. Stout’s work, that his Washington will, at least, be equal to any .” This high praise was truly gratifying.
Mr. Stout is a native of the City of New York. Born and bred amongst us he is peculiarly our own artist ; and it is with equal pleasure and pride that your Committee report, that after a careful investigation of his merit, that they are of opinion that James V. Stout is second in merit to no living sculptor. Heretofore (with the exception of Greenough) we have been obliged to employ foreign artists to give us statues of Washington. Distinguished sculptors are rarely to be found, even in the old countries • and when we are so fortu¬ nate as to find one of native growth amongst ourselves, your Committee think we ought not to defer this subject ; for we greatly fear, if after spending so much time and labor' to at¬ tain to perfection in his art, his own, his native city should now refuse to encourage him, that hereafter, when we may awake to a just sense of our duty, our own Stout will have sought a more appreciating country. Dr. Hawks stated to your Committee that the statue of Washington, at Raleigh, by Canova, cost fifty thousand dollars, although it was merely life size. From this, it will be perceived that the proposed statue, being extremely colossal will cost a large sum,.
The statue proposed is to be twelve feet high , which, with a proper proportion in breadth and depth, makes the figure eight times as large as life, and a statue of this size would cost sixty thousand dollars. If the city appropriate ten thousand dollars for the model, the friends of this cause ex¬ pect to procure the remaining fifty thousand dollars through the State Legislature ,(who are even now about to discuss the
Doc. No. 67.].
508
question,) and from the generosity of private individuals, which has already been tendered.
Your Committee have examined all these sources, and from the examination, they fearlessly say, that they believe every dollar requisite to the full completion of the statue in stone, will be in readiness within a few months after the model shall be presented to public view.
Your Committee, in coming to the conclusion to recom¬ mend an appropriation to aid the noble enterprise before us, have not been unmindful of the situation of our city finances, and after stating the inability of the city to do at present, what, under other circumstances, we would cheerfully re¬ commend, the artist replied to your Committee, that he would go forward with the work, in case he could receive the sum of twenty-five hundred dollars during the present year, and the remainder when the model should be com¬ pleted.
Finally. Your Committee have come to the conclusion, that they do but consult the desires and wishes of the peo¬ ple of the City of New York, when they offer for adoption the following resolution :
Resolved , That the sum of ten thousand dollars be ap¬ propriated for the purpose of constructing a model for a statue of Washington of the dimensions specified in the fore¬ going report, to be executed by James V. Stout. That twenty-five hundred dollars of said sum be advanced by the Comptroller of the City to said Stout, as the said Stout shall require the same, and that the balance be paid when the model shall be completed.
Respectfully submitted. •
CALVIN BALIS,
ELIJAH H. KIMBALL.
MEMORIAL
To the Mayor and Common Council of the City of New York ,
8H0WING THE PRAYER OP YOUR PETITIONERS.
We, the undersigned, impressed with the value of a noble work of Art, worthily conceived and executed and devoted to the honor of WASHINGTON ; a work that shall at once be a monument of the past, a memorial of the present, and an inheritance to other times ; a work National in its cha¬ racter, and by its presence here, of especial pride and interest to the citizens of New York : and believing that the proper time has come, the public desiring such a work, do petition that this undertaking be commenced speedily, and that James Y. Stout, sculptor, as a native of New York, for mo¬ tives of patriotism, and the encouragement of native talent, and above all, for his tried genius and fitness for the work, be entrusted to execute a STATUE OF WASHINGTON FOR THIS CITY.
January ls£, 1842. Washington Irving, James Kent,
Fitz Greene Halleck, Henry Brevoort,
Francis L. Hawks,
Benj. F. Butler,
J. K. Paulding,
Wm. C. Bryant,
N. P. Willis,
Charles Anthon,
Wm. A. Duer,
John Trumbull, ' Edwin Forrest,
Morgan
Valentine Mott,
John W. Francis,
M. H. Grinnell, Samuel Jones,
Benj. T. Onderdonk, Theo. Frelinghuysen, J. F. Schroeder, Auguste Davezac,
F. A. Tallmadge,
J. M. Wain wright, Maturin Livingston, Theo. Sedgwick, Thos. H. Skinner,
From S. F. B. Morse , Esq., President of the National Academy of Fine Arts, in a letter to Mr. Stout.
“Your colossal bust of Washington ranks in expression with the best I have seen ; Houdon’s is considered the best likeness ; but you have thrown into the feature's of the Christian patriot and soldier, a spirit which better corres¬ ponds with his character. Houdon’s is Washington asleep — your’s is Washington awake and on the eve of battle.”
■
’ • ' f i A'i '
i
DOCUMENT No. 68.
board of aldermen,
February 21, 1842.
Annual Statement of the Fulton and South Perries of the City of New York. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Mayor and Common Council of the . City of NeW York ;
The lessees of the Fulton and South Ferries herewith transmit the annual statements required by their lease.
The whole amount of receipts from the two ferries for the year, as will be seen by reference to the paper marked A, is $150,047 86.
And the whole amount paid for expenditures, as shown by the paper marked B, is $143,523 85.
The amount of capital employed and paid in is two hun¬ dred and three thousand dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, as shown in the paper marked C.
N. B. MORSE, President , WILLIAM L. DEQRAUW, Superintendent,
Brooklyn, 1st February, 1842.
Doc. No. 68.]
512
£L.
STATEMENT
OF THE
Monthly Receipts of the Fulton and South Ferries , from the 1st Feb., 1841, to the 3lst Jan., 1842, inclusive.
February . Total Receipts . $ 7,075 80
March . do do . . . . 8,073 27
April . do
May . do
June . do
July . do
August . do
September . do
October . do
November . do
December . do
January . do
do . 9,808 58
do . 21,775 12
do . 13,115 12
do . 14,009 85
do . 13,568 72
do . 12,977 87
do . 12,381 49
do . 19,005 28
do . 9,700 87
do . 8,555 89
$150,047 86
[Doc. No. 68-
$13
3.
STATEMENT
OP THE
Expenditures of the Fulton and South Ferries from the 1st February , 1841, to the Is* February , 1842.
1841.
February. — Paid M. Rickman for coal, $28;
Schenck & Bryan for oats, $15 45 $ 43 95
Paid R. Bowne for use of boat . . . . 24 50
J. De La Roi, for a canvass jacket. . V 00
, Bishop and Simonson for ship carpen¬ ters’ work . 398 43
James McFarlan for sundries . 33 19
James E. Hathaway for lumber . 126 60
Allaire Works for repairs to engines,
&c . 193 16
the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . 2,000 00
William Roach for pine wood . 153 00
William L. Degrauw on account of
salary as Superintendent . 200 00
John E. Cornwell on account of salary
as Assistant Superintendent . 150 00
- $3,329 83
March.— Paid monthly wages of men employ¬ ed on the ferries . 2,857 80
Paid J. Crane for pine wood . 176 25
Bishop & Simonson on account of
Troy Boat “ Suffolk” . 500 00
Bishop & Simonson for repairs to
boats . 1,000 00
Allaire Works for repairs to engines,
&c . 1,019 91
Amounts carried forward .
$5,553 96 $3,329 83
Doc. No. 68.]
514
1841. Amqgnt? brought forward . $5,553 96
March.— Paid A. W ebb for camphine, $14 50 ;
J. McFarlan for sundries, $52 37 . . 66 87
Paid D. Fay for tallow, $120 33 ; J. Cox
for interest, $35 . 155 33
Bishop & Simonson for oak timber. . 56 30
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . . . . 2,000 00
N. B. Morse for counsel fees, $50;
Colborn & Co. for joist, $12 38 ... . 62 38
W aterhouse &, Balch for joiners’ work 150 00
Bishop & Simonson on account of the
‘‘Suffolk”......... - 500 00
William Day for water wheel timber. 388 50 E. Colborn & Co. for lumber, $18 31;
J. Eddy for lumber, $15 06 . . 33 37
C. Smith for pine wood . 52 50
^Vpril. — Paid James &. Brothers for stoves, &c. 39 25
Paid E. B. Stryker for an iron safe . 26 50
John E. Cornwell for sundries . 61 67
Bortman & Smith fqr painting . 17 §0
Atlantic Bank for interest . 129 45
R. Brooks for camphine . 10 35
Bunker Clark for inspecting boats . . 60 00
Monthly Tyages of men . 2,846 68
A, Birkbeck & Son for repairs . 310 00
Bishop & Simonson on account of the
“Suffolk” . . . ........ 500 00
Rqng Island Insurance Company for
insuring boat . 25 00
Waterhouse & Balch for account of
joiners’ work . . . 200 00
PC Smith fqr carting coal . 30 25
Delaware and Hudson Cana} Com¬ pany on account of coal . 2,000 00
J. McFarlan for sundries . . . 23 87
William Aymar & Cp. for ship chan¬ dlery, &c. ... . . 1,623 13
J. Baldwin for pine wood . 113 75
Amounts carried forward . $8,017 40
$3,329 83
9,019 2J
$12,349 04
515
[Doc. No. 68.
1841. Amounts brought forward . $8,017 40 $12,349 04
April. — Paid Waterhouse & Balch on account
of joiners’ work . . . 300 00
„ . - 8,317 40
■May.— Paid monthly wages of men . . 2,846 68
Paid J. S. Doughty one quarter’s salary as
Treasurer . 100 00
William L. Degrauw on account of
sala»T . ..... . 200 00
John E. Cornwell on account of salary 150 00
Captain Crawley for pine wood . 130 81
J. E. Hathaway for lumber . 62 68
Corporation of New York one quarter’s
rent of ferries, . . 3,000 00
Z. Conklin for one quarter’s rent of
wharf- - . 100 00
Damage to canal boat . . . . 62 81
E. C. Cerwin for timber . . 47 16
V. R. Terry for joiner’s work . 21 95
J. Crane for cedar plank . 271 84
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany for freight of coal . 315 00
M. Buckman for Virginia coal . 19 00
JS, Doyle for sperm oil.' . 33 00
T,. Mabbitt, for sperm oil . 40 00
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . . . 3,000 00
Semi-annual dividend to stockholders 7,105 00
J. Crane for pine wood . 110 50
J. E. Cornwell for sundries, $64 81 ;
J. McFarlan for do. $42 . 106 81
Waterhouse & Balch for joiner’s work 250 00
D. Fay for tallow . 70 65
the Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany, on account of coal . 2,500 00
R, Moore for caulking . 29 00
A- Birkbeck & Son for repairs to ma-
chinery . 413 67
Samuel Crawley, for pine wood . 68 25
the Common Council of Brooklyn for rent of wharves, &c., at the South Ferry, Brooklyn . 971 74
Amounts carried forward .... $22,026 55 $20,666 44
Doc. No. 68.]
516
1841. Amounts brought forward - $22,026 55
May— Paid William L. Degrauw on account
of salary . 300 00
John E. Cornwell, on account of sa¬ lary . . . 150 00
June — Paid monthly wages of men . $2,836 68
Paid Delaware and Hudson Canal Compa¬ ny on account of coal . 2,000 00
Waterhouse & Baleh for joiners’ work 400 00
Phelps, Dodge & Co. for copper - 205 80
Ripley ,& Culver for paints . 139 09
E. Doyle for sperm oil $33 ; J. Mc-
Farlan for sundries $87 64 . 120 64
A. Birkbeck & Son for repairs to mar
chinery . , , . . . 400 57
J. Crane for pine wood - - - - - - 159 38
Bishop & Simonson on account of boat
“ Suffolk” . . . 2,500 00
Schenck & Bryon for horse feed,
$25 71; R. Brooks for camphine,
$11 62 ... . . . . 37 33
John E. Cornwell for sundries . . 35 68
James Dye for pine wood .......... 129 00
N. B. Morse, Esq. for council fees ... 25 00
Delaware and Hudson Canal Compa¬ ny for freight of coal . 378 68
Allaire Works, on account of engine and boiler for boat . 2,000 00
j uly— Paid monthly wages of men . $2,855 18
Paid Bishop & Simonson on account of
boat “ Suffolk” . 1,000 00
Waterhouse &, Baleh on account of
joiner’s work . 300 00
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler for boat . . . 2,000 00
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . . . 3,000 00
C. H. & H. Leonard for sperm oil. . . 542 07
Allaire Works for repairs to machinery 234 78
$20,666 44
22,476 55
11,367 85
Amounts carried forward .
$9,932 03 $54,510 84
517 [Doc. No. 68.
184L Amounts brought forward .... $9,932 03
July. — Paid William M. Udall for ship chan¬ dlery . . . 54 47
Paid Atlantic Bank interest on loan . 132 33
Laborers for piling coal . . . 1*7 25
A. Spooner & Son for printing ...... 46 17
Pierson & Co. for iron. . . . 251 87
Bunker & Clark for inspecting boat. . 20 00
John Dikeman, Esq. counsel fees. ... 20 00
A. Birkbeck & Son for repairs to en-
ginesy &C/ . . . . • 200 00
David Fay for tallow . . . . 102 87
Langshore & Ribbit for timber ..... 12 25
Waterhouse &Balch for joiners’ work 150 00
John E. Cornwell for sundries . 22 78
Joseph Riley for cushions. . . . 64 75
D. C. Kingsland for injury to carriage 17 37
Sherwood & Knap for lumber . 14 17
J. Morse for bells, &c . .!.... 24 00
William L. Degrauw on account of
salary . . . . . 200' 00
John E-. Cornwell on account of salary 150 00 Waterhouse & Balch for joiner’s work 1O0 00 Captain Dorie for pine wood. ..... . . 146 62
Bishop & Simonson an account of boat “ Suffolk” . 1,000 00
August. — Paid monthly wages of men . 2,863 35-
Paid Allaire Works for repairs to ma¬ chinery . 471 00
Z. Conklin for one quarter’s rent of
wharf . 100 00
J. S. Doughty one quarter’s salary as
Treasurer . 100 00
Common Council of Brooklyn one
quarter’s rent . 550 00
Common Council of New York one
quarter’s rent of ferries . 3,000 00
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler . 2,000 00
D. Y. Schenck for horse feed . 23 10
$54,510 84
12,678 93
Amounts carrried forward.
$9,107 45 $67,189 77
518
Doc. No. 68.]
1841. Amounts brought forward _ $9,107 45 $67,189 77
August. — Paid John Hyer for wharfage. .... 63 19
Paid Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . 3j00d 00
Laborers for piling coal $16 25; Leary
for repairing cart $20 32 . 26 57
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler ... . . . . 325 23
Bishop & Simonson on account of
boat “ Suffolk” . . 1,060 60
Samuel Anderson for pine wood . 163 28
G. C. Langdon for tubes $6 94; Bay-
lis &. Brown for spars $6 75 . 13 69
R. R. Story for leather hose . 21 001
. - 13,720 41
September.— Paid monthly wages of men . . 2,887 68
Paid Delaware and -Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . 3,000 Off
J. McFarlan for sundries . 16 43"
Langshore & Ribbit for lumber . 96 38s
Shepard & Thomas for lumber . 36 43
Waterhouse & Balch for joiner’s work 101 38 John Clayton for carpenter work .... 23 37
A. J. Allaire for plumber’s work. . ... 22 92
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler.. . ; . . 3,250 06
William L. Degrauw on account of
sala]T . . 200 Off T
Laborers for piling coal. . . . 29 50
John E. Cornwell for sundries . 33 62
David Fay for tallow . 73 88
For damage to steamer Mohegan .... 186 73
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . 2 000 00
G. W. Stilwell for door springs . 10 25
John Clayton for carpenter’s work. 15 12
John Hyer for wharfage . 16 50
E. Colborn for spruce plank . 10 83
G. W. Seely for a bed . 20 00
Laborers for piling coal . 18 75
Amounts carried forward. . . . $12,049 82 $80,910 ,8
519
[Doc. No. 68.
1841. Amounts brought forward _ 012,049 82 080,910 18
September. — Paid J. Crane for pine wood. . 106 88
Paid Samuel Hazleton for pine wood. .. . 199 12
Morse & Rolfe counsel fees . 20 00
- 12,375 82
October. — Paid monthly wages of men . 2,887 68
Paid John E. Cornwell on account of salary 150 00
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany, on account of coal . 4,000 00
Interest to the Atlantic Bank . 132 33
John Clayton for carpenter’s work... 13 06
D. T. Schenck for horse feed . 32 09
Phelps, Dodge & Co. for copper . 235 50
Samuel Hazleton for pine wood . 163 28
Bunker & Clark for inspecting boats. 120 00 Donelson & Albertson for oak plank,
&c . 266 32
James H. Murray for hay . 20 25
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler . 750 00
William Aymar & Co. for paints and
ship chandlery . 725 55
John Clayton for carpenter’s work. . . 13 0©
Thomas Edge for iron washers. .... 29 80
Laborers for piling coal . . 19 50
Hannah & Launy for coppersmith
work . 152 33
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany for freight of canal . . 1,258 05
John E. Cornwell for sundries. ..... 28 37
T. W. Murdock for a pump.. . . 6 00
Whiting & Bloomfield for oak plank*
&c . 90 63 •
Hendricks & Brothers for copper _ 34 06
Laborers for piling coal . . 18 00
Shepard &. Thomas for lumber. ..... 72 91
Bishop & Simonson on account of
boat “ Suffolk” . . 1,000 00
A. D. Southworth for fenders . 110 92
Amounts carrried for. vard . 012,329 69 093,286 09
2
Doc. No. 68.]
520
1841. Amounts brought forward. . . . $ 12,329 G9 $93,286 00 Floating Dry Dock Company for rais¬ ing boat . 79 50
A. Birkbeck &, Son for repairs to ma¬ chinery . 300 00
- 12,709 19
November. — Paid Hendricks & Brothers for
copper . 97 56
Paid Henry Dean for sperm oil . 75 22
A. V. H. Webb for camphine . 56 87
Corporation of New York for one quar¬ ter’s rent . 3,000 00
Corporation of Brooklyn for one quar¬ ter’s rent . . 550 00
J. S. Doughty, Treasurer, one quar¬ ter’s salary . 100 00
Monthly wages of men . 2,887 68
William L. Degrauw on account of
salary . 200 00
John E. Cornwell on account of salary 75 00
Z. Conklin for one quarter’s rent of
wharf. . . 100 00
John Cox for loan and interest . 522 00
Allaire Works for sundry repairs. . . . 569 36
Samuel Hazleton for pine wood . 122 50
John Clayton for carpenter’s work. . . 13 75
R. Brooks for camphine . 11 32
Allaire Works on account of engine
and boiler . 2,000 00
Semi-annual dividend to stockholders 7,105 00
David Fay for tallow . 104 29
John Clayton for carpenter’s wages : . 1100
Samuel Hazleton for pine wood . 124 61
Taxes on Fulton Ferry to the City of
Brooklyn . 247 50
Discount on uncurrent bills . 21 04
Keeler & Ostrowfor brick . 6 66
Farr & Fowler for a vice . 1 1 00
Thomas Frazier for stove, «Shc _ •. . . 11 51
W. Day for a map of Fulton Ferry . . 10 00
Amounts carried forward
$18,033 87 $105,995 19
521 [Doc. No 68.
1841. Amounts brought forward ....
November. — Paid Allaire Works for repairs
of machinery, &c .
Paid monthly wages of men . . . .
Bishop and Simonson for ship carpen¬ ters’ -Work . . . . .
P. Caraway for labor. . .
N. Comstock for sperm oil .
Laborers for piling coal — . .
Langshore & Hibbit for lumber .
Damages for running over a small boat E. C. Corwin for repairing racks, &c.
December. — Paid Shepherd & Thomas for lumber .
M. Buckman for coal .
John Clayton for carpenter’s wages. .
N. Ferguson for pine wood . . .
Hendricks & Brothers for copper. . . .
Samuel Brown for one cask oil .
Allaire Works for repairs .
Thomas W. Murdock for a pump -
Samuel Hazleton for pine wood .
William Aymar & Co. for ship chan¬ dlery, &c. . .
James Dye for pine wood .
John E. Cornwell for sundries .
John Clayton for carpenter’s wages..
Discount on uricurrent bills .
J. Moore for bells .
H. Dikeman for hardware $81 42; D.
Squier for pine wood $99 75 .
J. L. MoU for repairing stoves $29 26;
D. Southworth for fenders $6 50 . . D. Fay for tallow $117 55; W. Glenn
for wheelbarrows $20 .
J. W. Farlan for sundries $13 84; Phelps, Dodge & Co. for copper
$422 41 .
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany for freight of coal . •. .
$18,033 8*7 $105,995 19
639 37 2,887 68
315 45 26 00 30 18 33 75 16 76 187 71 163 99
22,334 76
80 42 38 58 13 06 145 25 79 87 32 30 68 42 6 00 158 37
1,111 98 136 50 35 89 13 06
17 59
18 00
181 17
35 76 137 55
'436 25 933 40
Amounts carried forward
$3,679 42 $128,329 95
Doc. No. 68.]
522
1841, Amounts brought forward . $3,679 42 $128,329 95
December. — Paid Allaire Works on account
of engine and boiler . 2,000 00
Paid E. Gifford for pine wood . 88 38
Hannah & Launy for coppersmith
work . 153 61
H. N. Conklin for lumber $16 71 ; J.
Clayton carpenter’s wages $J.l 68. 28 59
Laborers for cording wood . 6 00
William L. Degrauw on account of
salarf . 200 00
John E. Cornwell on account of salary 1 50 00
1842- — - 6,306 00
January.— Paid monthly wages of men . 2,926 00
Paid Pierson &. Co. for iron, &c . 423 40
J. O. Donel for paving $17 25; J. L.
Eddy for lumber $13 14 . 30 39
Bishop & Simonson on account of the
boat “Suffolk” . 2,000 00
N. B. Morse on account of counsel
fees . 50 00
Kiersted, Warner & Co. for paint?,
&c . 116 65
D. T. Schenck for oats $40 97 ; R. T.
Powell for stoves, Ac. $84 10 . 125 07
R. Atwater for stoves, Ac. $47 25;
S.Mott for oats and straw $15 18.. 57 43
C. &. H. Leonard for sperm oil . 4H 14
Delaware and Hudson Canal Com¬ pany on account of coal . 2,000 00
Atlantic Bank interest on loan . 132 33
J. Clayton carpenter’s wages $16 50;
G. C. Langdon for stoves, &c. $8 57 25 07
Thomas W. Murdock for stanchions $7 50 ; T. Sith for horse shoeing
$26 48 . 33 98
Long Island Bank for one year’s in¬ terest on loan . 535 00
\VTilliam Flintoff for sundries . 31 44 8,317 90
$143,523 85
523
[Doc. No. 68.
A LIST OF THE STOCKHOLDERS
OF THE
New York and Brooklyn Union Ferry Company, February \st'} 1842.
No. of 1 No. of
Shares. Scares.
|
N. J. Reear. . r . r . |
.. 7 |
||
|
Benjamin Aymar . |
10 |
James Benkard ...... |
.. 4 |
|
William Aymar . . |
Jos. Bishop., . |
.. 4 |
|
|
Elizabeth Alexander.. |
. . 5 |
Alexander Birkbeck . . |
.. 3 |
|
Alfred Aid worth . . |
William Brown . |
||
|
James Alcock . . |
.. 3 |
Benjamin F. Burling. . |
. 2 |
|
Ruth Black. . . . . |
.. 7 |
John Bergen . |
.. 4 |
|
Robert Bach . . |
.. 11 |
S. T. Ohampnpy . |
1 |
|
Jon. C. Bartlett . |
Robert Campbell . |
.. 2 |
|
|
Isaac Barnes . . |
.. 6 |
Richard Cadmus . |
.. 3 |
|
Gerret Bergen . . |
.. 4 |
Thomas J. Chew . |
|
|
Jacob Bergen . . |
.. 6 |
Owen Colgan . |
|
|
Cornelius Bergen. . |
A. J. Cotheal, Exr. . . . |
||
|
Jacob L. Bergen ....... |
A. V. Cortelyou . . |
.. 1 |
|
|
Isaac H. Bergen . |
W. J. Cornell . |
.. 1 |
|
|
J. D. Beers . |
.. 10 |
Peter C. Cornell . . |
.. 1 |
|
Simeon W. Barney.... |
Sarah Cornell . , . , |
||
|
Henry Beadell . |
, . 1 |
Miles Cook . |
|
|
William B. Bolles . |
David Cooper . |
||
|
F. E. Berger . |
. 71 |
John A. Cross . . . . |
|
|
Elizabeth Bertram . |
. 3 |
Haz. Coffin . |
|
|
A. D. Berry . |
N. R. Cowenhoven . . . . |
, 7 |
|
|
George G. Bennet . |
. 6 |
0. Coles and others , . . . |
|
|
Winant P. Bennet . |
H.H. Cox . |
g |
|
|
John Benson . . . |
H. H. Casey, in trust . . . |
. 2 |
|
|
Jacob Bergen . |
.. 7 |
Clement Davidson . |
|
|
Townsend Bedell . |
Benjamin W. Davis. . . . |
Doc. No. 68.] 524
No of No. of
Scares. Shares.
|
William R. Dean . |
, 1 |
L. H. Holmes . . |
1 |
|
1 |
F. • Hniirdcqnin . . |
7 |
|
|
Abraham DegrauAv . |
, 3 |
Charles Hoyt . |
16 |
|
James A. Degrauw . |
. 11 |
Holdford, Brancker & Co. |
3 |
|
L. Y. Deforest . . |
. 1 |
Harry Hyde . . |
2 |
|
Charles De Mott . |
. 8 |
Jarvis Jackson . |
1 |
|
John De Mott . |
. 2 |
John Johnson . |
2 |
|
John De Bevoise . ■ |
. 4 |
Samuel J. Jones . |
2 |
|
Downing & Lawrence . |
. 5 |
C. Joost . |
2 |
|
Dr. Embury . . |
. 3 |
David Johnson . |
8 |
|
D. Embury, Cashier . . . |
. 5 |
C. N. Kiersted . |
13 |
|
Maria Faiilkner ...<... |
Q |
James G. King . |
56 |
|
William Forbtlsh ...... |
. 1 |
John A. King . |
12 |
|
James Foster . |
Josiah Kissam . . |
1 |
|
|
Frye &. Shaw . |
William Kumbel |
2 |
|
|
Augustus Graham . |
. 1 |
William Kemble ....... |
25 |
|
Samuel I. Gerrisson . . . . |
. 3 |
William Kelly . |
1 |
|
John S. Gerrisson . |
Jacob R. LeRoy . ! |
300 |
|
|
George Gil fil land ...... |
J. B. Lasala, in trust. . . . |
75 |
|
|
Warren A. GrifFen . |
. 2 |
Jno. 11. LeCount . |
3 |
|
M. Hart . . . |
Starks W. Lewis . |
5 |
|
|
S* Haynes.- ••• * •••• |
. 2 |
Elijah Lewis . |
4 |
|
A. D. Hall . . . |
. 2 |
Leffert Lefferts . |
6 |
|
list. E. Hawxhurst .’ . . * |
. 4 |
LeRoy &. Perry . |
80 |
|
John Haggerty . |
. 8 |
Moses Little . |
7 |
|
William Henry Hayes . |
. 1 |
William Hall Long . |
1 |
|
C. J. Henshaw ........ |
Jeremiah Lott . |
1 |
|
|
F. H. Hebard . |
John A. Lott . |
2 |
|
|
W. T. Henriekson . |
Isaac C. Loper . |
2 |
|
|
John Hillman . |
. 8 |
William Ludlum . |
10 |
|
Robert T. Hicks . |
. 3 |
N. Luquer . |
6 |
|
John G. Hicks . . . |
. 7 |
George Marvin . |
1 |
|
Thomas Holohan ...... |
James McFarlan . |
1 |
|
|
George S. Howland. . . . |
. 5 |
James McFarlan, (E.). . . |
6 |
|
G. G. Howland . |
. 8 |
D. McCoun . |
3 |
525
[Doc. No. 68.
No. of Shares.
Austin Melvin . . . 4
Eli Merritt . 1
John B. Miller . 10
Ann Mitchell . 2
John Mortimer, . 13
Peter Montfort . . . 5
Gerard W. Morris . 1
Samuel C. Nicoll . 4
F. W. Ostrander . 1
Jonathan Ogden . 10
J. D. P. Ogden . 10
Th. Osborn . 10
Edward Payson . 1
E. H. Page . 1
John J. Palmer, President 16
John Peck . 1
S. Parmentier . 2
Jos. A. Perry . 10
Jos. A. Perry, in trust. . -196
N. P. Pettibone . 1
Anson G. Phelps . 3
A. H. H. Perkins . I
J. S. Pierson . 2
H. E. Pierrepont, Exr.. . 10
Frederick Prime . 8
Robert A. Powers . 13
William Post . 6
William Raynor . 6
Eliza Rathbone . 5
John Rankin . 42
Robert Ray . 16
J. H. Redding . 2
William Remsen . 8
S. Richards, Jr . 2
James Rowland . 3
No. of Shares.
John N. Robbins . 1
Theo. Rogers . 7
P. A. H. Renauld . 3
H. W. Rosenbaum . 10
Isaac Rushmore . 13
Townsend Rushmore... 11 Stephen Rushmore ..... 5
Peggy Ryerson . 1
G. A. Stryker . 3
George St. John . 1
B. S. St. John . 1
J. R. St. Felix . 8
S. Samson . . . . 2
John Spader . 2
Joseph Sands . . 6
J. Sherman, Jr . . 2
H. F. Spear . 5
Alan Seaman . . 1
W. J. Schenck . 2
P. Schermerhorn . 8
Schermerhorn B. &, Co.. 8
E. Silteck . 1
M. Skidmore . 12
C. P. Smith . 14
Anna Smith . 2
Samuel Smith . 2
Charles Smith . . 5
Crawford C. Smith . 1
Edmund Smith . 10
Daniel J. Stilwell . 5
Jay J. Stilwell . 1
Thomas M. Strong . 5
Ferdinand Suydam . 10
Abraham Suydam . 4
Abraham Sutton . . 8
Doc, No. 68.]
526
|
Benjamin D. Silliman . . . |
1 |
Henry Waring . |
|
|
Benjamin Townsend . . . . |
10 |
Abraham Warner . |
|
|
Jonathan Trotter . |
1 |
Albert T. Wells . |
. 2 |
|
John W. Tout . |
2 |
Jane Weaver . T t . |
6 |
|
Ira Tompkins . |
1 |
Amos White . |
|
|
P. I. Underhill . |
8 |
George White . |
. 5 |
|
Ad. J. Underhill . |
6 |
Nathaniel Wright . |
. 2 |
|
Garrit Yanderveer . |
17 |
Eben Whitney . |
. 2 |
|
John J. Vanderbilt . |
2 |
William Woodruff . |
. 1 |
|
Ad. Vanderveer . |
1 |
John Wortman . |
. 3 |
|
John Vanderveer . |
1 |
Weeks <fc Co . . |
. 10 |
|
A. N. Van Brunt . |
2 |
Peter Wyckoff . |
. 10 |
|
L. V. Nostrand ......... |
6 |
Peter Wyckoff, Jr . . |
. 1 |
|
Phebe S. Van Nostrand. . |
1 |
Nicholas Wyckoff . |
2 |
|
Abigail S. Van Voorhis. . |
2 |
Nathaniel Weed, Pres’t.. |
. 16 |
|
G. G. Van Wagener . . . . |
1 |
Nathan Young . |
. 3 |
|
James Van Sickler . |
1 |
John O.Zuill . . |
. 3 |
|
Mary Watts . . |
1 |
Robert W. Zuill . |
1 |
|
DEFERRE |
D STOCK. |
||
|
F. E. Bergen . |
20 |
John Haggerty . |
|
|
Jacob Bergen . |
2 |
David Johnson . |
|
|
N. J. Becar . |
2 |
C. N. Kiersted . |
|
|
James Berkard . |
1 |
James G. King. . |
|
|
Joseph Bishop . |
1 |
John A. King . |
. 3 |
|
Had. Coffin . |
2 |
Le Roy &. Perry . |
. 4 |
|
H.H. Cox: . |
2 |
John J. Palmer, Pres’t.. |
. 4 |
|
Dr. Embury, Cashier . . . |
2 |
Moses Little . . |
|
|
C. J. Henshaw . |
2 |
J. A. Perry, in trust. . . . |
|
|
F. Hourdequin . |
2 |
Frederick Prime . |
|
|
Mrs. E. S. D. Hubbard. . |
2 |
Robert Ray . |
|
|
G. G. Howland . |
2 |
Theo. Rogers . |
527
[Doc. No. 68.
J. R. $t. Felix .
P. Schermerhorn .
Schermerhorn B. & Co.. .
C. P. Smith .
Abraham Sutton .
Abraham Suydam .
Henry Waring .
No. of No. of
Shares. Shares
2 Abraham Warner . 3
2 Albert Woodhull . 2
2 Weeks <fc Co . 2
2 Nathaniel Weed, Pres’t. . 4
2 John De Bevoist . 2
2 Benjamin Townsend .... 3
2
JOHN S. DOUGHTY, Treasurer.
3
DOCUMENT No. 69.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 21, 1842.
The following Communication was received from his Ho¬ nor the Mayor , and so much thereof as relates to a Sus- pension Bridge, and the subject of National Defence , were referred to the Committee on Arts, Sciences and Schools ; so much as relates to Depositing Manure at the foot of Reade and Duane streets, referred to the Committee on Wharves, Spc.; and so much as refers to the claim of Mrs. Van Tassel, was referred to the Com¬ mittee on Fire and Water.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, February 21, 1842.
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
Gentlemen : — I herewith transmit to your Honorable Body the Seventeenth Annual Report of the Society for the Reformation of Juvenile Delinquents, being for the year 1841.
Doc. No. 69.]
530
Also, the annual statement of the lessees of the Fulton and South Ferries, for the year ending 31st January, 1842, as required by the terms of their lease.
Also, the calendar, or report of persons confined in the City Prison on the 21st February, 1842; with the names of their offences, &c., made by the Keeper of said Prison.
I also submit to your Honorable Body two several dia¬ grams or plans, for the erection of a suspension bridge, drawn by Monsieur Euler, Civil Engineer, and by him pre¬ sented for your consideration.
I have received, and herewith submit to your Honorable Body, a letter from a large number of citizens of Rushville, Schuyler County, Illinois, upon the subject of national de¬ fence, enclosing a description of a fire-ship, invented by a citizen of that place, and soliciting the co-operation of the Mayor and Common Council of this City in bringing the subject before Congress.
I again call your attention to the complaint of many citi¬ zens, in relation to the collection of manure at the foot of Reade and Duane streets. I have been called upon this day by some of our citizens, leasing and owning property in that neighborhood, who inform me that the tenants are moving out of their buildings, in consequencce of the nuisance al¬ luded to. I suggest the inquiry, whether there is not some place belonging to the Corporation that might be appropri¬ ated to the purpose of depositing manure, without causing injury to the property of the citizen. The fort at the foot of Hubert street might answer that purpose.
Mrs. Frederick Van Tassel, a widow, of No. 57 Allen street, presents a claim to me for injury done to her premises by the Fire Engine Company stationed immediately in the neighborhood of her house. She states that the stoop of her house has been frequently injured by said company’s run¬ ning the engine against it; that she has expended sums of money to replace the same, and that now the stoop is again broken by similar conduct lately committed. I submit this
531
[Doc. No. 69.
matter to your consideration for two objects: they are, that you may determine whether the city should not pay for these injuries, committed by a department of the city government upon the property of the citizen : the other, that some mea¬ sure may be adopted to prevent future injuries of the same kind.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
DOCUMENT No. 7 0.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 21,4842.
Report of the Committe on Charity and Alms House, in relation to the Public Buildings at Bellevue , Black¬ well’s Island , <Spc. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Charity and Alms House, to whom was referred the annexed report from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, on the Communication from the Commissioners of the Alms House, in relation to the Public Buildings at Blackwell’s Island, &c., respectfully recommend a concur¬ rence in the resolution of said Board, for the reasons stated in their report.
SAMUEL BRADHURST, DAVID VANDERVOORT.
BOARD OF ASSISTANTS,
OCTOBER 25, 1841.
Report of the Committee on Charity and Alms House , on the Communication of the Commissioners in relation to the Public Buildings at Bellevue , Blackwell's Island, fyc.
The Committee on Charity and Alms House, to whom was referred the annexed communication, respectfully
REPORT :
That they have visited the public buildings at Bellevue, Blackwell’s Island, and Long Island Farms; and have exa¬ mined particularly into their condition, and the accommoda¬ tions afforded by them. It is found that those already erected are not sufficiently capacious to contain the num¬ bers that fire necessarily crowded into them, in consequence of the vast increase which has taken place since their erec¬ tion.
From the reports taken from the Alms House records, it appears that on the 24th day of October, 1835, there were
in the Alms House proper . . 1,375 inmates.
Lunatic Asylum and Hospital . 246 “
Long Island Nurseries and Farms .... 519 “
Male Penitentiary . 271 “
Female Penitentiary . 224 “
Total . 2,635 “
535
[Doc. No. 70.
On the 15th day of October, 1841, there were in the Alms
House proper . 1,404 inmates.
Lunatic Asylum . 298 “
Hospital . . . 335 “
Long Island Nurseries and Farms .... 763 “
Male Penitentiary . 364 “
Female Penitentiary . . . 491 “
Total . 3,655 “
By comparing the above reports, it appears that there is an increase of 1,020 in the last six years. It is evident, if the numbers continue to increase in the same ratio, that much more extensive accommodations must soon be pro¬ vided than is proposed in the annexed communication. Your Committee would therefore recommend that plans be procured for the erection of “ other and more appropriate buildings” on Blackwell’s or Randall’s Island, for Alms House and other purposes; and that the Common Council take such action thereon as shall ensure the commencement of such as may be deemed proper, early in the ensuing Spring.
Your Committee would, however, recommend that the following improvements be immediately made, according to the proposition of the Commissioners, viz. :
To provide apartments for Hospital for diseased
colored inmates at Bellevue, probable cost .... $600
To furnish wards for patients suffering with dis¬ eased eyes at Bellevue. A part of the Chapel can be taken for that purpose, and the larger portion will remain, sufficient to accommodate
the inmates of the institution . 500
To construct additional apartments for the children at the Farms . . . 600
Doc. No. 70.]
536
To enlarge the accommodations for the sick chil¬ dren, already removed to the house lately occu¬
pied by J. W. Brown, on Blackwell’s Island .... $ 800
To erect verandahs to the main Asylum . 2,000
(The Mad House, having covered yards attached, requires none at present.)
To repair the Work House for females at Black¬ well’s Island, to be occupied until another can be built . . . 50
For the purpose of carrying into effect the improvements stated above, the following resolutions are offered :
Resolved , That four thousand five hundred and fifty dol¬ lars be, and is hereby appropriated, out of the fund autho¬ rized to be raised by tax for Alms House Buildings, for the erection of apartments, additions, &c., as specified in the above report.
Resolved , That the Committee on Charity and Alms House of both Boards be directed to make the necessary arrangements for effecting said improvements.
E. G. RAWSON,
GEORGE F. NESBITT, HENRY BREVOORT.
COMMUNICATION
OP THE
COMMISSIONERS OF THE ALMS HOUSE,
In relation to the Public Buildings at Bellevue , Blackwell's Island and Long Island Farms .
To the Common Council of the City of New York :
The Commissioners of the Alms House respectfully re¬ present, that the following buildings, apartments, &c., are absolutely necessary, and ought to be provided with as little delay as possible :
1. An additional Asylum for one hundred luna¬ tics at Blackwell’s Island, probable cost . $> 16, 000
2. Verandahs to the main Asylum and Mad House ; these are indispensable, that the patients may have air and exercise in all seasons of the year, and in every condition of weather, free from exposure to its severity, from which they now
suffer much . 5,000
3. An enlargement of the male penitentiary, Black¬
well’s Island, with apartments to temporary insanity, growing out of intemperance, say . . . 15,000
4. A Work House for females at Blackwell’s Is¬ land, the one now in use is positively dange¬ rous ; it ought to be placed at the lower end of the Island, near the Female Hospital, and the whole enclosed with a substantial fence, at all
times under the care of a Keeper . 3,000
Doc. No. 70.]
538
5. Enlarged hospital accommodations at Black¬ well’s Island, both for males and females .... $3,000
6. A separate building for colored male paupers at Bellevue ; both sexes now occupy the same house, the old and young, the diseased and the well ; their situation is distressing, and requires
immediate attention . 4,000
7. Hospital apartments for diseased coloured in¬ mates at Bellevue ; there are none now — the
sick suffer much . 1,000
8. Wards for patients suffering with diseased eyes
at Bellevue . 600
9. A Work House at Bellevue . [4,000
10. Extensive accommodations for the children at
the Farms, such as lodging and play rooms, apartments for taking their meals in, and work¬ ing rooms . 6,600
11. The children afflicted with diseased eyes ought
to be removed from the Farms — the house late¬ ly occupied by J. W. Brown, at Blackwell’s Island, offers good accommodation — necessary expenses with cost . 800
Many other additions and repairs are necessary, but the above are most pressing ; the Commissioners are ready to give such further information and explanation, in relation to the charge committed to their care, as may be required.
JOHN Y. GREENFIELD,
Chairman of Commissioners.
DOCUMENT No. 71
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 28, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Laws, of the Board of Alder - men, in relation to the Regulation of Cabs. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Laws, &c., to whom was referred an ordinance from the Board of Assistant Aldermen, in relation to the regulation of cabs, respectfully
REPORT :
That with the valuable suggestions and assistance of Mr. Brown, the Superintendent of Hacks and Cabs in this City, they have very attentively considered the subject referred to
Doc. No. 71.] 540
them, and recommend a concurrence with the Board of As¬ sistant Aldermen, with certain amendments, which >vill be found in the annexed ordinance, and which is herewith sub¬ mitted for the consideration of the Board.
C. S. WOODHULL, MOSES G. LEONARD.
AN ORDINANCE
TO REGULATE CABS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
The Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of
New York, in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
TITLE I.
Of Licensing the Owners of Cabs.
§ 1. The Mayor of the City of New York for the time be¬ ing, shall, from time to time, issue licenses under his hand and seal, to so many and such persons as he shall think pro¬ per, to keep cabs for hire in the said City, and to revoke all or any of the said licenses.
§ 2. No person who is not a citizen of the United States, a resident of this City for the last six months, of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and the owner of a good and sufficient horse and cab, shall be licensed as aforesaid.
§ 3. The Mayor of the said City may administer to any person applying for a license, an oath or affirmation, and shall examine such person orally, touching his said applica¬ tion and qualifications to receive said license.
§ 4. All licenses to the owners of cabs shall expire on the first Monday of August next, after the date thereof.
§ 5. If the owner of any cab, who may have received a li¬ cense, shall sell or dispose of said cab before the expiration of such license, such licensed owner shall, within ten days
Doc. No. 71.]
542
after such sale, report the same to the Superintendent, who shall be authorised, with the consent of the Mayor, to trans¬ fer such license to the purchaser of such cab, on the pay¬ ment of one dollar to the Mayor for the use of the City, and every owner of a cab who shall neglect to report any such sale to the Superintendent, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars.
§ 6. No licensed person shall be entitled to have his license renewed, unless he shall make it satisfactorily appear, on oath as aforesaid, that he still owns a good horse or horses, and a sufficient and proper cab as aforesaid.
§ 7. Every license shall state the number of the cab for which the same is granted.
§ 8. Every person who may be licensed as aforesaid, shall pay to the Mayor for the use of the City for each cab which such person shall keep for hire, the sum of three dollars when drawn by one horse, and the sum of five dollars when drawn by two horses.
§ 9. If the owner of any cab who may have received li¬ cense for a one horse cab, shall afterwards apply two horses to the same, he shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars for every day or part of a day he shall so run such cab. But any owner who may have a license for a one horse cab may, on application and on the payment of two dollars addi¬ tional, have a license for a two horse cab.
§ 10. Every person who shall keep or drive any cab for hire in the City of New York, without being first licensed as aforesaid, shall be liable to the penalty of twenty-five dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver thereof, severally and respectively.
543
[Doc. No. 71.
TITLE II.
Of Licensing Drivers of Cabs.
§ 1. The Mayor of the City of New York shall have full power and authority, from time to time, to issue licenses under his hand and seal to so many and such persons, as he may think proper, to drive cabs, and at pleasure to revoke all or any of the said licenses.
§ 2. All licenses to the drivers of cabs shall expire on the first Monday in August next, after the date thereof.
§ 3. Every driver of a cab shall, on receiving his license, pay to the Mayor of the City of New York, for the use of the said City, the sum of one dollar, and no person shall drive any cab who is not twenty-one years of age and licensed for the same, under the penalty of five dollars.
§ 4. No owner of any cab shall suffer or permit any per¬ son to drive such cab, who is not twenty-one years of age, and who is not licensed as aforesaid, under a penalty of ten dollars for every such offence.
TITLE III.
Of Rates of Fare.
Art. 1. The rates of fare to be paid for the use and hire of cabs in the City of New York, shall be as follows, to wit :
§ 1. For carrying one passenger any distance not exceed¬ ing one mile (25) twenty five cents, and for every additional passenger, the same distance, (18) eighteen cents ; and for every additional mile or part of a mile for one passenger (18) eighteen cents, and for every additional passenger (12) twelve cents for conveying, as last aforesaid.
Doc. No. 71.]
544
§ 2. For the use of a cab by the day, with one or more passengers, ($4) four dollars.
§ 3. For the use of a cab by the hour, for one passenger, (62) sixty-two cents, and for every additional passenger (12) twelve cents.
§ 4. In all cases the cab shall be deemed to be hired by the mile, unless agreed upon to be by the hour or the day.
§ 5. Children, under fourteen years of age, shall pay one- half of the above price, unless under two years of age, in which case no charge shall be made for their conveyance.
§ 6. In case of a cab being detained, except as aforesaid, the fare during said detention shall be (50) fifty cents for every hour, apd in proportion for the parts of an hour.
§ 7. For the use of a cab at a funeral (going and return¬ ing, if required) below (28th) Twenty-eighth street, in said city, the fare for each cab shall be ($1 50) one dollar and fifty cents, and for the same to Potter’s Field, (going and re¬ turning if required), ($2 50) two dollars and fifty cents.
§ 8. Every passenger conveyed as aforesaid, shall have the right to have conveyed with him, in or on said cab, one trunk or other article used in travelling, free of all charge ; and for every trunk or other article aforesaid, being more than one as aforesaid for each passenger, the sum of (6) six cents shall be paid, if conveyed within the distance of one mile, and (12) twelve cents if conveyed over one mile — the last mentioned articles are not to be over burdensome.
§ 9. In case of disagreement under this ordinance between passenger and driver, or owner or agent of cab, in relation to fare, as to distance, agreement or price, the same shall be determined by the Mayor or Superintendent, on hearing of the parties.
§ 10. The owner, agent, or driver of any cab shall not de¬ mand or receive any pay or compensation for the conveyance of any passenger or baggage, unless the number of the cab used for such conveyance, and the rates and prices of fare as above, shall be found in said cab at the time of said con-
545 [Doc. No. 71.
veyance conspicuously placed in the manner and form here¬ in after prescribed.
§ 11. In case the owner, agent, or driver of any cab shall wilfully and wrongfully claim or demand for the convey¬ ance of one or more passengers, more compensation than he is entitled to by this ordinance, he shall entirely forfeit all claim to any compensation for said conveyance, and in case of his having wilfully and wrongfully received as aforesaid more than his just compensation, he shall return the same to the payer, under penalty of losing his license, at the discre¬ tion of the Mayor, and in either case under a further penalty of ten dollars, to be collected of said owner, agent or driver, either or both of them, for the use of said city.
§ 12. In case of suit at law for the recovery of any fare under this ordinance, it shall he incumbent on the party su¬ ing for said fare or compensation, to prove in evidence in said suit, that the number of his cab, and the prices or rates of fare, as herein set forth, were duly placed in or on said cab, pursuant to this ordinance, at the time of the convey¬ ance for which the said suit is brought.
TITLE IY.
Of the Regulating and Numbering of Cabs.
§ 1. Every cab which shall be licensed, shall be marked and numbered as follows, that is to say : the number of the license of the owner thereof shall be in gilt figures on a black ground, on a conspicuous place on the outside panel of the door of said cab, if the door be in rear of the cab, and if the doors be on each side of' the cab, then the num¬ bers shall be conspicuously placed as aforesaid on the out¬ side of the doors ; and if the doors be neither behind nor on the sides, then the numbers shall be placed conspicuously
Doc. No. 71]
546
on the middle of the panel on each side of said cab ; each figure of said number to be at least two inches in length. The figures must be unobscured and unconcealed by any other figure or device.
§ 2. Every cab which may be so licensed, shall, when used at night, have fixed upon some conspicuous part of the outside thereof, two lighted lamps, with plain glass fronts and sides, and having the numbers of the license of the owner of such cab in plain legible figures, of at least two inches in length, and no other figure or device, painted with black paint, upon each of the said lamps, in such a manner that the same may be distinctly seen and known when the said cab may be standing or driving.
§ 3. Any person or persons who shall keep or drive such cab in violation of any or either of the preceding provisions of this title, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for and recovered from the owner, agent, or driver thereof, severally and respectively.
§ 4. If any person or persons, who has a license for a cab, shall use more than one cab with the same number, he or they who shall use two cabs with the same numbers shall be liable to a penalty of ten dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent, or driver thereof re¬ spectively.
§ 5. If any person or persons shall be found using a cab with a number belonging to another person, he or they who shall so use the number, shall forfeit and pay the sum of five dollars for every day such number shall be so used, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver thereof, severally and respectively.
§ 6. There shall be fixed in every cab, in such a manner as can be conveniently read by any person in the same, a card containing the name of the owner of said cab, the num¬ ber of his license, and the whole of the third title of this or¬ dinance, printed in plain legible characters. Every driver or owner of such cab shall, when required so to do by any
547
[Doc. No. 71.
passenger in such cab, exhibit to such passenger a card in every respect similar to the one above mentioned and de¬ scribed in this section. Any person who shall violate any or either of the provisions of this section, shall forfeit and pay for every such olfence the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for and recovered from the owner, agent or driver of such cab, severally and respectively.
§ 7. No owner or driver of any cab, whilst on any of the stands hereinafter designated, or whilst waiting for employ¬ ment at any place other than at the house or stable of the owner thereof, shall refuse or neglect to convey any person or persons to any place or places on the island of New York, upon being applied to for that purpose, and on being ten¬ dered the fare for the same, under a penalty of ten dollars for every such refusal or neglect, to be sued for and reco¬ vered from the owner, agent or driver of any such cab, seve¬ rally and respectively.
§ 8. No person, whether owner or driver of any cab, while at either of the said stands shall snap or flourish his whip, or shall leave such cab, under the penalty of five dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver of any such cab, severally and respectively.
§ 9. All the provisions and penalties of this chapter, except those requiring lamps, shall apply to the sleighs which shall come upon and use the stands hereinafter designated, and to the owner, agent or driver thereof, and shall also apply in all respects to sleighs which shall be driven and used for the conveyance of passengers in the City of New York for hire on wages.
§ 10. Every owner or driver or person having charge of any cab shall, upon being requested so to do, give to any person the number of his cab, the name of the owner thereof, and his place of abode, and in default thereof shall forfeit and pay the sum of ten dollars, to be sued for and recovered from the owner, Agent or driver of such cab, severally and respec¬ tively.
2
Doc. No. 71.]
548
TITLE Y.
The Places at which Cabs may Stand for Hire.
§ 1. Cabs may stand waiting for employment at all times, Sundays excepted, at the stands herein named, that is to say, on the south side of Yesey street, and along the Park in Broadway.
§ 2. The Mayor of the City of New York, with the advice and consent of the Alderman and Assistant of each ward, may from time to time designate such other place or places in each ward as they shall deem proper at which cabs may stand waiting for employment.
§ 3. No cab shall be allowed to stand on any of the stands, nor at any other public place on Sunday, under the penalty of ten dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver thereof, severally and respec¬ tively.
§ 4. No cab shall, while on any of the stands or at any other public place, stand back up to the curb stone, but shall stand with its side to the curb stone, under a penalty of ten dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent or, driver thereof, severally and respectively.
§ 5. No cab shall, while on any of the stands, or at any other public place, be allowed to stand one outside of ano¬ ther, under the penalty of ten dollars for every such offence, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver of any such cab which shall so stand outside of another, severally and respectively.
§ 6. The Mayor of the City of New York, with the assist¬ ance of the Superintendent of Cabs, and by and with the consent of the Alderman and Assistant Alderman of each ward, respectively, shall have full power and authority to make such rules and regulations, and give such orders re¬ specting the standing of cabs at and near the theatres and
549
[Doc. No. 71.
other places of amusement or resort, and at and near steam¬ boats arid other vessels, at all times and at and upon the stands designated and specified for such cabs as may be ne¬ cessary to preserve order and decorum.
§ 7. Every owner, agent or driver of any such cab, who shall neglect to obey any of the said rules, regulations or orders, shall forfeit and pay for every such offence, the sum of five dollars, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver of any such cab, severally and respectively.
§ 8. The Superintendent of Cabs shall, at all reasonable times, have free access to such cabs within the premises of their several proprietors, as shall be necessary to the perform¬ ance of his duties, under a penalty of ten dollars upon each and every person who shall obstruct, disturb or molest the said Superintendent whilst in the discharge of his duties as aforesaid.
TITLE YI.
Of the Superintendent of Cabs.
§ 1. The Superintendent of Hackney Coaches shall also be Superintendent of Cabs, and it shall be the duty of the said Superintendent, to visit the public stands and all places where cabs are permitted to stand : he shall have power and authority to order away from the stands and from all other places, any cab not provided with a number or with lamps fixed up, lighted and numbered as herein before re¬ quired, or not furnished with proper and suitable harness and horse or horses, or if the same, in his opinion, shall be improperly obstructing the way or street, or if the horse or horses attached thereto, are unruly, or if the driver or per¬ sons having charge of any such cab is intoxicated or in any manner misbehave himself.
W
Doc. No. 71.] 550
§ 2. If any person having charge of any such cab, shall refuse or neglect to obey any such order of the said Super- • intendent, he or they shall forfeit and pay for every such of¬ fence, the sum of ten dollars, to be recovered from the owner, agent or driver of every such cab, severally and respectively.
§ 3. It shall be the duty of the said Superintendent of Cabs to see that all the laws regulating cabs are in every respect complied with, and it is particularly enjoined upon the said Superintendent of Cabs, that he report all offenders thereof to the Attorney of the Corporation.
§ 4. The Superintendent of Cabs, under the direction of the Mayor, shall determine the number of cabs for any particu¬ lar stand, and he shall also designate the cabs which shall wait for employment at any particular stand, and also the proper boundaries and limits of every such stand.
DOCUMENT No. 72.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 28, 1842.
Report of the Comptroller , in relation to the Accounts of the Chamberlain , for the quarter ending January 31s/, 1842. Ordered on file and to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, )
City of New York, 28th February, 1842. $
To the Honorable the Common Council :
The Comptroller begs leave to
REPORT:
That the accompanying documents are true copies of the returns of the City Treasurer, for the quarter ending Janu¬ ary 31st, 1842. They have been compared with the books of this office and found to be correct.
Doc. No. 72.]
552
The balance in the Special Fund to meet the “ Fire Loan Interest,” was, on that
day . $14,805 83
In the “ Sinking Fund,” to be invested in
the City debt . 31,682 68
In the general fund . 85,876 67
Making a total balance of cash on hand of $132,365 18
Yery respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH.
Comptroller.
|
553
Doc. No. 72.]
554
Comptroller’s Office, ?
February 22, 1842. $
I do certify that the aforegoing are true copies of the ori¬ ginal accounts, (filed in this office,) which have been care¬ fully compared with the proper vouchers, and agree there¬ with.
P. A. YOUNG,
Deputy Comptroller.
Bank of the State of New York, ) January 31st, 1842. )
I hereby certify, that after the close of business this day, the balances herein named were standing on the books of this bank to the credit of the following accounts, viz : to the credit of the “ City Treasurer,” eighty-five thousand eight hundred and seventy-six dollars sixty seven cents ($85,- 876 67.) To the credit of the “ Commissioners of the Sink¬ ing Fund,” thirty-one thousand six hundred and eighty-two dollars sixty-eight cents ($31,682 68,) and to the credit of “ Interest on Fire Loan belonging to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund,” fourteen thousand eight hundred and five dollars eighty-three cents, ($14,805 83.)
(Signed.) R. WITHERS,
Cashier.
Comptroller’s Office, ) February 22d, 1842. \
The aforegoing is a true copy of the original certificate of R. Withers, Cashier, on file ; and the balances of the several accounts therein exhibited are found, upon examination made by me, to agree with the balances of the same ac¬ counts in the books of this office, to the period stated.
P. A. YOUNG,
Deputy Comptroller.
DOCUMENT NO. 73.
BOARD OF AEDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 28, 1842.
Annual Report of Firewood and Charcoal , inspected and measured in the City and County of New York , in the year 1841. Ordered on file and to he printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York:
The undersigned herewith reports the amount of firewood and charcoal inspected and measured in the City and County of New York, for the year 1841.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS,
City Inspector.
Doc. No. 73.]
556
|
1 |
5 ' i |
33,561 39 29,888 22 32,428 20 28,649 16 33,583 65 27,087 97 12,960 67 31,817 58 30,102 42 76,715 37 43,917 42 39,051 30 |
S3 g I |
|
ijs |
: |
Illiilill |
§ 1 |
|
I |
1 |
4,636 10 5,087 50 4,968 25 3,610 28 3,947 13 7,557 34 3,474 51 4,976 44 5,639 96 16,472 44 7,882 16 6,930 49 |
§ l |
|
!* |
$1 85 1 75 1 64 1 63 1 61 1 50 1 64 1 72 1 69 1 81 |
f m |
|
|
Fni |
lltllilltlil |
i |
|
|
I |
I |
24,913 04 22,696 72 23,137 73 22,204 09 23,571 90 17,150 88 8,477 04 21,570 50 26,405 34 48,058 55 28,220 21 25,809 23 |
S3 |
|
! |
1 |
SSSSS&gSgftfcgSS |
§ £ |
|
Hi |
1I11PSI111 |
tj |
|
|
1 |
i |
4,012 25 2,104 00 4,322 22 2.833 79 6,064 62 2,379 75 1,009 12 5,370 44 7,058 12 12,084 38 7,815 05 6,311 58 |
a| |
|
j |
ii |
1 |
|
|
Hi |
‘PIIPIIII! |
J |
|
|
! |
1 |
Hlwtlll |
557
[Doc. No. 73.
CHARCOAL REPORT.
|
1841. MONTHS. |
Number of tubs per quarter. |
price pei quarter. |
Amount per quarter. Dolls. Cts. |
|
January, February and March . . |
24,705 |
3H |
7,778 31 |
|
April, May and June . . |
66,455 |
32| |
21,553 85 |
|
July, August and September . . . . |
59,227 |
3l| |
18,434 60 |
|
October, November & December |
51,727 |
30f |
15,700 46 |
Number of tubs for the year .... 202.114.
Average price for the year . 3 If cents.
Total amount for the year . $63,467 22.
The returns of the Inspectors of. Wood for 1841, show that there has been inspected during the year 220,433 loads of wood, 22,511 loads less than during the preceding year.
The Measurers of Charcoal, according to the returns, have measured 202,114 tubs of charcoal, 133,781 tubs less than during the year preceding. These reports are very imperfect ; many of the Inspectors and Measurers neglect to make returns.
Respectfully submitted.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS,
City Inspector.
February 21, 1842.
DOCUMENT No. 74.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
FEBRUARY 28, 1842.
Annual Report of the City Inspector , of the New Build - ings erected in the City and County of New York, in the year 1841. Ordered on file and to he printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The undersigned respectfully reports to the Common Council —
That the number of buildings erected in the city during the year 1841, was 971, being an increase over the year pre* ^ ceding, of 121.
The following table shows the increase and decrease in the several wards :
|
Doc. No. 74.] |
560 |
|||||
|
Increase 7th ward |
11 |
Decrease 1st ward |
18 |
|||
|
“ 9th « |
24 |
it |
2d |
if |
4 |
|
|
“ 10th « |
28 |
if |
3d |
if |
0 |
|
|
“ 11th “ |
56 |
u |
4th |
if |
27 |
|
|
“ 15th « |
15 |
u |
5th |
if |
0 |
|
|
« 16th « |
23 |
u |
6th |
if |
13 |
|
|
“ 17th “ |
65 |
tc |
8th |
it |
18 |
|
|
- ■ |
12th |
tc |
0 |
|||
|
222 |
u |
13th |
tc |
17 |
||
|
101 |
If |
14th |
ft |
4 |
||
|
Total increase . . |
.. 121 |
101 |
Respectfully submitted.
WILLIAM A. WALTERS,
City Inspector.
561
[Doc. No. 74.
* 1 Hotel, Sailor’s Home, f 1 Stone Church.
X 1 Stone Church.
§ 1 Orphan Asylum.
r
Doc. No. 74.] 562
4,
11
Allen . .
Attorney* * * § .
Amos .
Amity .
Bank .
Bloomingdale road.
Barrow .
Bowery .
Broadway .
Broomef . .
Bedford .
Cornelia .
Cedar . .
Centre .
CherryJ .
Christopher .
Christie .
Clinton .
Columbia .
Cannon .
Catharine .
Cross .
Clark .
Carmine .
Delancey .
Division .
Duane .
Downing§ .
Elizabeth .......
Elm .
Eldridge .
Essex .
* 1 Brick Church,
f 1 Stone Church,
t 1 Hotel, Sailor’s Home.
§ 1 Brick Church.
563
[Doc. No. 74.
|
Brick Dwellings. |
Wooden Dwellings . |
Brick Dwellings and Stores. |
1 Wooden Dwellings 1 I and Stores. |
Brick and Granite Stores. |
Brick Stores. |
| Brick Shops. |
Brick Stables. | |
Other Buildings. \ |
||||||||
|
STREETS. |
2 story | |
| 3 story |
4 story j |
2 story | |
2 story 1 |
! 3 story |
4 story | |
| 2 story |
| 3 story |
| 4 story |
5 story , |
[ Total j |
||||
|
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
6 |
|||||||||||
|
6 |
2 |
8 |
||||||||||||||
|
2 |
2 |
4 |
||||||||||||||
|
2 |
2 |
|||||||||||||||
|
2 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Fort Washington . Goerck .... |
2 |
1 |
3 |
|||||||||||||
|
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
Gold |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
2 |
1 |
5 |
1 |
9 |
||||||||||||
|
Greenwich . . |
11 |
11 |
||||||||||||||
|
2 |
||||||||||||||||
|
Greenwich lane |
7 |
7 |
||||||||||||||
|
TTammnnd |
3 |
2 |
5 |
|||||||||||||
|
3 |
3 |
|||||||||||||||
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
Houston* |
12 |
4 |
2 |
19 |
||||||||||||
|
4 |
2 |
6 |
||||||||||||||
|
Horatio |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
10 |
11 |
10 |
2 |
33 |
||||||||||||
|
Kingsbrido-e road |
3 |
i |
4 |
|||||||||||||
|
10 |
1 |
11 |
||||||||||||||
|
Leonard . . |
2 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
Lndlow |
2 |
7 |
9 |
|||||||||||||
|
Lafayette place |
2 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
1 |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
Li^ppnard |
3 |
3 |
||||||||||||||
|
Market . |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|||||||||||||
|
1 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
14 1 |
||||||||||||
|
Morton . |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
2 |
2 |
|||||||||||||||
|
Marion |
2 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
Minolta |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
T\fm-fr>lk1 |
] |
1 |
1 |
3 |
||||||||||||
|
7 |
1 |
1 |
9 |
|||||||||||||
|
Pearl |
2 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
||||||||||||
|
Pitt . |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1 Brick Church.
Doc. No. 74.]
564
|
STREETS. |
Brick \ Dwellings. |
| Wooden DwellingsA |
Brick Dwellings and Stores. |
| W ooden Dwellings | and Stores. |
Brick and Granite Stores. |
Brick Stores. |
| Brick Shops. |
3 1 |
[ Other Buildings. |
|||||||
|
2 story |
3 story | |
4 story j |
2 story |
2 story 1 |
3 story |
4 story | |
2 story |
3 story 1 |
4 story |
5 story ] |
[ Total |
|||||
|
3 |
4 |
|||||||||||||||
|
2 |
3 |
|||||||||||||||
|
1 |
15 |
1 |
i |
i |
19 |
|||||||||||
|
i |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
1 |
i |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
1 |
1 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
Rutgers* . |
1 |
|||||||||||||||
|
Sheriff . |
3 |
3 |
6 |
|||||||||||||
|
South . |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|||||||||||||
|
Stanton . |
2 |
20 |
22 |
|||||||||||||
|
Suffolk . |
2 |
i |
3 |
|||||||||||||
|
Sullivan . |
11 |
11 |
||||||||||||||
|
Thompson . |
2 |
9 |
11 |
|||||||||||||
|
Thames . |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
University place . . |
12 |
12 |
||||||||||||||
|
Vandam . |
4 |
4 |
||||||||||||||
|
Vandewater . |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
Washington . .. |
7 |
7 |
||||||||||||||
|
Water . |
2 |
12 |
i |
15 |
||||||||||||
|
"W averly place |
3 |
1 |
4 |
|||||||||||||
|
William . |
1 |
8 |
1 |
2 |
12 |
|||||||||||
|
W arren . |
2 |
1 |
i |
4 |
||||||||||||
|
Wooster .... |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|||||||||||||
|
W alnut . . . |
2 |
2 |
||||||||||||||
|
Walker. . . |
3 |
3 |
||||||||||||||
|
1st avenue . |
7 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
16 |
||||||||||
|
2d “ |
2 |
22 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
29 |
||||||||||
|
3d “ . |
2 |
6 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
17 |
||||||||||
|
6th “ t |
1 |
1 |
6 |
9 |
||||||||||||
|
7th “ |
8 |
3 |
11 |
|||||||||||||
|
8th “ |
3 |
1 4 |
: 7 |
2 |
16 |
|||||||||||
|
9th. ^ |
17 |
IS |
! . |
1 |
] |
36 |
||||||||||
|
10th “ |
e |
; 6 |
i 2 |
! 4 |
2 |
! 20 |
||||||||||
|
11th “ |
3 |
I |
£ |
i 8 |
||||||||||||
|
12th “ . |
1 |
1 |
* 1 Stone Church, t 1 Orphan Asylum.
565 [Doc. No. 74.
|
STREETS. |
Brick Dwellings. |
Wooden Dwellings. |
Brick Dwellings and Stores. |
1 Wooden Dwellings 1 and Stores. |
Brick and Granite Stores. |
| .Brzcfc Stores. \ |
| Brick Shops. |
| Brick Stables. | |
| Other Buildings. |
|||||||
|
2 story | |
3 story | |
4 story | |
i 2 story j |
| 2 story | |
| 3 story | |
| 4 story | |
j 2 story |
| 3 story |
| 4 story |
| 5 story |
[ Total |
|||||
|
Jtpmp A |
1 |
1 |
||||||||||||||
|
A vpn pp R |
4 |
4 |
||||||||||||||
|
A TTonnp r |
1 |
5 |
6 |
|||||||||||||
|
A vpt np |
3 |
1 |
7 |
|||||||||||||
|
llf^trppt |
1 |
1 |
1 |
7 |
||||||||||||
|
4 |
4 |
1 |
13 |
|||||||||||||
|
3d " |
7 |
2 |
9 |
|||||||||||||
|
4th. ^ |
3 |
1 |
4 |
|||||||||||||
|
hth ^ |
22 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
26 |
||||||||||
|
6th ie |
4 |
3 |
1 |
8 |
||||||||||||
|
7th 6C |
2 |
0 |
8 |
|||||||||||||
|
0 |
6 |
|||||||||||||||
|
9th |
11 |
11 |
||||||||||||||
|
10th t£ |
4 |
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* 1 Brick Church.
Doc. No. 74.]
566
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DOCUMENT No. 75.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MARCH 7, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Laws and Applications to the Legislature on the Memorial of the Trustees of the Public School Society, in relation to the Laws now be¬ fore the Legislature , for the extension of the benefits of Common School Education. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Laws and Applications to the Legisla¬ ture, to whom was referred the annexed memorial of “ The Public School Society, of the City of New York,” urging the Common Council to ask the Legislature to suspend all action in relation to any change in the law for the distribu¬ tion of the public school moneys, until time should be given for a Joint Commission, to be appointed by the State and City Governments, to examine and report upon the subject, or for the deliberate adoption of such other course as may appear to be expedient,
Doe. No. 75.]
568
REPORT :
That the subject to which the attention of the Common Council is again invited, is admitted on all sides to involve considerations of the highest importance and of the utmost delicacy. They are important, because the interests of the common schools of our country are identified with the welfare and existence of our republic ; and they require to be treated with the most delicate regard to the feelings of those who are concerned, because our school system, as at present administered, is supposed to prevent a large class from availing themselves of its benefits, from motives of conscience.
It is impossible for your Committee to pass upon the ap¬ plication of the memorialists without considering the whole subject to which it refers. The expression on their part of a mere simple affirmative or negative, without expressing the general views which they entertain, might be subject to very great misconstruction.
Your Committee have brought to this examination, a deep sense of their responsibilities, and notwithstanding the porten¬ tous issues which it has been supposed to involve, as their only aim is to discharge their trust faithfully, they confide the results to the candor and good judgment of the people.
The propriety of applying any of the public moneys to sectarian purposes is no longer a question for discussion. So far as the Common Council are concerned, that subject has been put at rest, and it is to be hoped, for ever. The last surrender of the American public, would be that of their un¬ restrained and unbiassed right of conscience by any means of the Government. In this respect, they know of no pre¬ ference and of no distinction of sects. They have read of the persecutions of the reign of dueen Elizabeth, as well as those of Mary, and perhaps hardly of any more bitter and unrelenting, than those which attended the early settlement of our more favored country. But they need not the expe-
5G9
[Doc. No. 75.
rience of history. The principle of universal toleration is innate with our countrymen ; it forms a part of our Consti¬ tution, and is the pride of our land. Under it all religions flourish ; which, as they spring from the heart, and furnish its consolations, render the whole people contented and hap¬ py. Rude must be the hand that would seek to destroy such deep and holy foundations of hope and comfort.
No such effort is now sought to be made. There is no application either to the Legislature or to the Common Coun¬ cil, to have any part of the school fund placed at the dis¬ posal of any religious society, or appropriated to any of their uses.
Your Committee understand the question at issue between the Public School Society and the applicants for Legislative interference to be of a very different nature.
On the part of the petitioners to the Legislature, it is con¬ tended that the benefits of a common school education are not, and cannot be extended to many thousands of poor chil¬ dren in the City of New York, owing to the peculiar organi¬ zation of the schools selected as the recipients of school moneys ; and they ask for a more enlarged and liberal be- stowment of the patronage of the state. Not with a view to the use of one dollar of the public moneys for sectarian pur¬ poses, or for the inculcation of sectarian doctrines ; but be¬ cause they deem it a matter of primary interest to the re¬ public, that all of its children, who are to be the future men and women of America, and upon whose intelligence will depend its future destinies, should be trained up in our pub¬ lic schools, instead of being left to gather their education from the haunts of vice and infamy.
The advocates of the Public School Society, among the Trustees of which are numbered some of our best citizens, and most disinterested philanthropists, evince as strong an anxiety for the most extensive dissemination of education, and especially among the poorer classes ; and urge that the schools of their Society are open freely to the instruction of
Doc. No. 75.]
570
all who will come. And they strenuously urge that “ the Institution which they represent, has matured and for many years conducted with unequalled economy, a system of edu¬ cation, unsurpassed by any other.”
No person can be more thoroughly convinced than are your Committee, of the entire truth of all that is claimed in behalf of the schools of the Public School Society. They are the nurseries of intelligence and of virtue; and the only cause for regret with regard to them is that they do not ; practically meet the entire wants of the whole people; that they do not, in fact, educate all the children in our city. If this were entirely owing to the mere negligence of parents of the wants of their children, it could furnish no ground to suppose that the system of the public schools could either be extended or improved. But if any particular classes of children, of whom there are hosts in our city, are not found in the public schools, then there is room to suppose that something may be done to improve the system of general education. Any visiter who will frequent the schools of the Public School Society, will be struck with admiration at the means and power of inculcation of useful knowledge which are there bestowed, his sympathies will be tenderly moved, and he will come away impressed that it is a praiseworthy and noble institution, and one of the main pillars of our Government. But after all, some things will be found wanting. If he be a stranger, and has walked blindfolded through the streets, he will suppose we have no very poor, and will be only reminded of his mistake when the light of day has revealed to him swarms of half-dressed urchins, the forlorn children of destitute poverty. And if he has asked the question, he will have found, too, that of some religious persuasions, not one solitary little member was in the school, or had been for some years. If his inqui¬ ries had been further extended, he would very likely have found all this to be a very strange enigma. The rules of the school recognise no distinction of religion or of poverty —
571
[Doc. No. 75.
all are free to come and are welcomed. Not only so, but the most praiseworthy efforts have been made to visit and entice the children of want to the school. But still many, very many, do not come. No fault can be attributed to the Trus¬ tees or to the teachers. The very excellence of the system of common school education in our city has made them the substitutes for the very large and numerous pay schools that formerly abounded, and numbering from three to eight hun¬ dred scholars in each. They are now nowhere to be found. The same class of children now frequent the public schools, and the pay schools of the city have mostly become what are called select schools. All this redounds to the credit of the Trustees of the Public School Society. Their aim has been to make their schools rival the best in the land ; and they have succeeded. The patronage bestowed upon them by our citizens, who are perfectly able to pay for the educa¬ tion of their children, shows how much the superiority of these schools is appreciated. May there not, then, be some¬ thing in the association of the scholars which cannot, and perhaps ought not, to be prevented, so far as the present public schools are concerned, which forbids the attendance in them of the very poorest of the poor. It is not the exte¬ rior covering which characterizes the soul and spirit of children more than of men. The ragged and unpro¬ vided will not brook association with those who seem their betters. Is not this worthy of an effort to be relieved ? It is the child of squalid want, whose food is a crust of bread, and whose bed is the floor, to whom instruction is most valuable, and who will best requite it. If his mind be not enlightened his temptations lead him to crime ; but if educated, his hopes, like his capacities, become unlimited. Extend the blessings of education to every benighted mind, and we have nothing to apprehend from bigotry or intole¬ rance. Let the rays of science illuminate the pathway of religion, under the influence of our free institutions, and all sectarianism will become enlightened Christianity.
Doc. No. 75.]
572
It seems to your Committee that by popularizing in some degree the common school system, thereby interesting the parents of all children, greater inducements may be held out to this most interesting portion of our fellow creatures, to acquire the means of education. One of the great experi¬ ments which our country is making, and in which she is much interested, is to elevate the standard of the lowest citi¬ zen to a perfect equality, in point of privilege, with the highest. This cannot be done without universal education. The philanthropists of the New World have established a new philosophy, that it is better that wealth, and all the comforts of life, should be scattered and subdivided through every section of the land, than to be hoarded by a few, and only spread over favored sections. The principles of our Government prefer the wide spread diffusion of happiness and of plenty, to cheer the firesides and gladden the hearts of all, rather than that the exhibitions of national wealth should be made in the trappings of a splendid Government, or in the fretted domes of the rich few, made more dazzling by their contrast with the famishing misery around them.
As to one religious denomination, whose applications have given rise to the present discussion, its members admit that they have unalterably determined not to send their children to the public schools, as at present constituted. They urge that this course is adopted from motives of conscience, and a high sense of duty. Others call it prejudice. “ Who art thou that judgest?” Your Committee do not feel qualified to enter upon such a task ; nor to determine, no matter of what character their feelings may be, whether they may have been either fostered or provoked. Every man is sensitive about his religious belief; he deems it to be consecrated ground ; public discussions have been had ; epithets engen¬ der strife ; but your Committee forbear. The feelings of all should, if possible, be harmonized. This can only be done by foregoing every thing that is impracticable, and by estab¬ lishing some system that shall be destructive of no present
573 [Doc. No. 75.
good, and at the same time make the means of public in¬ struction available to all.
Your Committee, then, deeming that the appropriation of any of the school money to sectarian purposes is not only impracticable, but that no such principle is deemed desirable by any, are decidedly of opinion that no law should be passed by the Legislature which should not exclude the possibility of any such appropriation.
Your Committee deem it a matter of paramount impor¬ tance to preserve the usefulness of the Public School Society, and of the other schools which now participate in the school fund. They deem that the destruction, or the seriously impairing of these institutions would be an injury almost irreparable ; and it is their decided opinion that no law should be passed which would have any such tendency.
The question remains, how can the system be so extended as to meet the wants of all ?
It seems to your Committee that this can be effectually done, by giving to the Commissioners of School Moneys the right of appropriating the fund among the schools already established and others to be established, by competent per¬ sons as the Trustees thereof, upon procuring evidence of the organization of a school of an established number of chil¬ dren, in such favorable location as shall be satisfactory to the Commissioners, and under such checks as the Legislature may see fit to impose.
The principal objection that has been made to such a plan, is that it might greatly impair, if not entirely destroy the usefulness of the Public School Society. It is important to examine whether such a consequence can be reasonably anticipated.
The schools of the Public School Society, numbering one hundred and two, would all be retained. These schools are established upon so firm a basis, and have earned so faith¬ fully the affection of all who are connected with them, that any injury to them, arising from competition, if such could
Doc. No. 75.]
574
be considered a legitimate ground of objection, is not to be apprehended ; the particular location of any new school be¬ ing within the province of the Commissioners. The only way in which they could be affected, would be by the pre¬ sentation of other children, not taught by the Public School Society, as applicants for a share of the public bounty. In that way, and in that way alone could the usefulness of the Public School Society be impaired. Not by diminishing the number of their scholars ; not by interfering with their pre¬ sent unsurpassed organization ; but only by making them sharers with others in the participation of the Common School Fund ; and this, too, only in proportion as others presented new objects for the exercise of the munificence of the State, and such as were equally entitled to its enjoy¬ ment. Can this be considered an impairing of the Useful¬ ness of the Public School Society ? It can only be so con¬ sidered upon the same principle that an increase of the popu¬ lation might be supposed to impair such usefulness, because it might present new competitors with the children they already have. The public schools under the charge of this society are nearly, if not quite, all full ; they could not ac¬ commodate many more scholars. If, therefore, new applica¬ tions are presented, the Public School Society must increase the number of the schools, and provide new teachers. What difference then will it make to them, so far as the welfare of their one hundred and two schools are concerned, whether the accommodation for the new claimants be provided through their instrumentality or that of others. Competi¬ tion cannot injure them. It has not so operated, so far as regards the seventeen other schools, specially delegated by the Common Council, as partakers with them in the common fund ; and there is no reason to suppose that it would so operate, if such competition were left limited only by the wants of education. The Public School Society, certainly, do not mean to urge that they should be the sole dispensers of the means of instruction provided by the whole people.
575 [Doc. No. 75.
The organization of their society, as liberal as it is, admits of no such claim.
It seems to your Committee, that in view of the whole subject, and of the admitted fact that many thousands of the children in the city are growing up in entire ignorance, and that many of those who are educated, although entirely des¬ titute of parental means, are not enabled to enjoy the benefit of the ample bestowments of the State, the true and only question is, shall any effort be made to bring in the whole family of children, as one flock, to drink at the same foun¬ tain of knowledge and virtue? Who is there that in this view of the subject will object? Your Committee cannot find it in their hearts to do so ; and they believe that the in¬ telligence and the patriotism of the memorialists and of the whole country will sustain them in the position that one united effort should be continued and continued on, until crowned with full and complete success.
The means whereby so great an end may be accomplished, must, of course, be a subject for full discussion before the Legislature. But as the evils proposed to be remedied by the Legislature are great and imminent, and as they are clearly presented to the minds of your Committee, they see no reason why they may not be acted upon at once.
Your Committee recommend the adoption of the following resolutions :
Resolved, That in the opinion of the Common Council, Commissioners for each ward in the City of New York should be elected at a special election, to be held every year, under the direction of the Common Council, whose duty it should be to distribute the public school moneys among the Trus¬ tees and Managers of the Public School Society, and such other schools as are now designated by the Common Coun¬ cil ; and also among such other Trustees or Managers of Schools as should be organized under the sanction of such Commissioners, subject to such checks as the Legislature 2
Doc. No. 75.]
576
may impose, to prevent any sectarian doctrines from being* taught in any such schools.
Resolved , That the Counsel of the Corporation be, and he is hereby instructed to prepare a memorial, and cause the same to be presented to the Legislature, embodying the fore¬ going report and resolution.
Respectfully submitted.
EDWARD S. INNES, MOSES G. LEONARD.
MEMORIAL.
To the Honorable the Common Council of the City of New York:
The Memorial of the Trustees of the “Public School So¬ ciety of the City of New York,” respectfully showeth :
That circumstances affecting the cause of Common School Education in this city, seem to demand the interposition of the Local Government ; and your memorialists have been so long intrusted with its immediate management, under the supervision of Commissioners appointed by your Honorable Body, that they feel it to be their duty, and they apprehend that public expectation requires, that they should appeal to, and invoke the aid of those to whom the people have more immediately confided this important trust.
It is not deemed necessary to rehearse in detail the oppo¬ sition which the existing system of education has recently had to encounter, nor the various and strenuous efforts which the Trustees of the Public School have made to reconcile conflicting interests, and remove unfounded jealousies. The history of these proceedings is spread upon your journals, and is familiar to the public mind.
Nor can more be necessary than to advert to the repeated instances, in which applications for portions of the school money, for the support of sectarian or church schools, have been rejected. These decisions were approved and sustain¬ ed by a unity and depth of public feeling, which will prevent their being speedily forgotten.
It is found, nevertheless, that those citizens who claim to be aggrieved by the present Public School System, have ap-
Doc. No. 75.]
578
plied to the Legislature of the State, to interpose its autho¬ rity and radically to change that system, and it is to this fact that your attention is respectfully solicited.
There are now two bills pending, one in each branch of the Legislature, avowedly for the purpose of extending the benefits of education in the City of New York.
Your memorialists have examined these bills with that degree of interest, which their own intimate connection with the subject may be supposed to create, and with the lights which long and well tried experience could scarcely fail to shed ; and they are persuaded that the enactment of either of them would greatly impair the usefulness, if not entirely destroy the existing system of Public Schools.
The bill in the Senate, instead of removing the objection urged, by some, against the present system, that it is con¬ trolled by an irresponsible corporate body, provides for the creation of an indefinite number of corporations, equally irresponsible of the people, and far more exclusive and dif¬ ficult of access ; and its practical operation, whatever may have been the intention of its authors, would grant to church schools, indirectly, that which has so often and with such remarkable unanimity been denied to open and direct appli¬ cations.
The haste with which the other bill is urged to its com¬ pletion, does not afford time for that full and careful exami¬ nation of its provisions and of their adaptation to the pecu¬ liar circumstances of large, dense and mixed population, which the high importance of the subject requires.
Your memorialists will, therefore, briefly say, that it will destroy that uniformity in books, classification and modes of study which now prevail, and which in a population so ac¬ customed to removing from one part of the city to another, presents advantages which can scarcely be over estimated. The short period of time that a large portion of those chil¬ dren who depend upon common schools for an education, are permitted to attend them, renders it important that none
579 [Doc. No. 75.
of it be wasted in efforts to acquire a "knowledge of different and adverse plans of study.
It deprives your memorialists of that independence in the free choice of teachers, in the “government” of the schools, and in controlling the “course of studies to be pursued” in them, which is, in their opinion, absolutely essential to a healthy and beneficial action of the system.
Nor can they discover in the bill, or in either of the statutes to which it refers, any provision for the support of the schools for training teachers, now conducted by your me¬ morialists, and which have produced the most happy results. By thus furnishing well qualified instructors, one of the greatest difficulties formerly encountered, and one which every annual report of theSuperintendent of Common Schools shows, is a prominent and most serious obstacle to the pros¬ perity of the District Schools of the State at large, has, so far as regards this city, been in a great measure overcome.
Indeed, your memorialists are of the opinion, that the bill in question has been framed without a practical knowledge of the subject to which it relates, that it proposes a system entirely too complex, one which probably would result in substituting, for the present Public School System, the Dis¬ trict System of the State, while all experience shows that the latter is not at all adapted to the exigencies of this city. For your memorialists do not admit that the District System works well in other cities of this state. On the contrary, there is abundant evidence that the reverse is the fact, and that efforts have been made in several of them, and particu¬ larly in Brooklyn, whose population most nearly resembles our own, to procure modifications that would assimilate them to the plan of the Public School Society.
Your memorialists moreover affirm, that in their manage¬ ment, quality and results, the District Schools of the State, will not bear even a remote comparison with the Public Schools of this City ; and they are unable to see why the manifest superiority of the latter is not attributed to that very
Doc. No. 75.]
580
organization and management which it is now sought to supersede.
The reports of the Superintendent of Common Schools have, for years past, deplored the almost entire neglect of duty, on the part of a large proportion of the Inspectors of Common Schools, elected by the people; and with great truth and force contend, that good schools cannot be ex* pected without vigilant and constant inspection.
There has, however, within a few years, been a great im¬ provement in this respect ; which, it is worthy of especial notice, the late Superintendent, in his report of 1841, attri¬ butes to the example and influence of County Superinten¬ dents, not elected by the people , but appointed by himself ; and yet the report of the present year furnishes the follow¬ ing most extraordinary picture:
Of the 10,88(5 District Shools in the State, 298 did not make any report; of the remainder, 3,620 were not visited at all; 3,210 were visited but once; and only 376 districts received four or more visits during the year.
Constrast this with the fact that more than ten thousand recorded visits have been made annually for a series of years past, by the Trustees, to the 100 schools under their care.
The institution represented by your memorialists has ma¬ tured, and for many years conducted, with unequalled eco¬ nomy of expenditures, a system of education not surpassed by any other.
This is fully sustained by the annual reports of the Com¬ missioners of School Money, who derive their appointment from the City Government; by the reports of numerous suc¬ cessive Committees of that Government ; by the concurrent testimony of intelligent and observing travellers, who were acquainted with the systems and schools of other cities and countries; and by the report of a Special Commission ap¬ pointed to inspect them by the late Superintendent of Com¬ mon Schools.
In view of these facts, does it not become a cautious and
581
[Doc. No. 75.
practical people to look well to the probable consequences of supplanting such a system by the introduction of another.
To your memorialists it does not appear incredible that an adequate number of men, induced by taste, habit, or pe¬ culiar views of duty, should voluntarily associate and per¬ form particular services with greater diligence and efficiency, than an equal number, whose selection may grow out of ac¬ cidental circumstances; or, as could scarcely fail to happen in this city, out of political considerations.
If these views are sound, and if, as your memorialists con¬ tend, nothing can be more prejudicial to any system of pub¬ lic instruction than to expose it to the influence of religious feuds and party conflicts, they would seem to demand that nothing short of well grounded apprehensions of danger should induce a change from the existing system to another.
Whether the present system, guarded as it is by the su¬ pervision of persons who derive their power from the peo¬ ple, entirely dependent for its means of action on the people’s representatives, and liable to any additional safeguards which the people may see fit to throw around it, should be made to give place to another, of doubtful expediency, is the issue now presented for consideration.
Your memorialists cannot, they think, in justice to them¬ selves, or the system they advocate, refrain from remarking, that the report of the Committee of the Asssembly, which accompanied the bill now before that body, reiterates the es¬ timates, charges and assertions which have heretofore been made in another, and a higher quarter; and which have again and again been proved to be fallacious, and destitute of foundation in fact ; particularly as to the statement of the relative attendance at the District Schools of the Country and the Public Schools of the City. The last annual report of the “ Commissioners of School Money” shows, conclu¬ sively, that the apparent disparity in favor of the former arises from the law of the State, which prescribes an entirely
Doc, No. 75.]
582
different mode of making returns, — a difference that operates against the city in the ratio of four to one.
The Commissioners remark, “ That no just contrast can be instituted from numbers representing, as in the country returns, every child as an attending scholar who had visited the school but for a day, and the city returns, whose highest numbers represent only the average quarterly attendance, would not seem to require illustration.
A striking evidence of the utter looseness and uncertainty of the country returns is furnished in the fact, that in more than one-half of the towns in the State, the number of children reported to the Legislature as attending the District Schools is considerably greater than the whole number re¬ siding within the same towns; and yet we find, that in t grave public documents, efforts are made, from such falla¬ cious data, to prejudice the public mind against the school system of the city, and to prove that it has “ failed to accom¬ plish the objects contemplated in its establishment.”
The comparative cost of tuition is equally incorrect; and arises, your memorialists are willing to believe, from a want of acquaintance with the subject.
It is a fact, susceptible of proof, that the cost of education in the city, so far as the same expenses are embraced, is less than the aggregate cost in the country. The error in the report probably arises from the Committee not knowing that in the country those who are able, pay for the tuition of their children, and provide them with the necessary books, sta¬ tionery, &c.; while in the city, all are taught gratuitously, and books, fuel, &c., are furnished at the public expense.
There is no part of the report under review, which has caused more surprise than the alleged unpopularity of the Public Schools. Where the evidences of this are to be found is not known to your memorialists. Certainly not in the repeated and almost unanimous rejection by the Municipal Government, of every application to disturb them; nor in
583 [Doc. No. 75.
the pointed manner in which the public voice has sustained these decisions.
In relation to the attempt to infer a consciousness, on the part of the Trustees, of a waning popularity, from their efforts to bring into the public schools the neglected and va¬ grant children of the city, a practice coeval with the society, your memorialists will simply remark, that it is an echo of a charge previously made in another quarter, and that it is as ungenerous as it is untrue.
In conclusion, your memorialists have to say, that deeply as they would regret the consequences, they do not desire to retain the trust so long confided to them, one hour after a clear manifestation of the wish of their fellow citizens to have them relinquish it. But they do contend, that the District System of the State is not at all adapted to the City of New York — that the plans now under consideration in the Legislature, are destitute of system — that they would throw the whole subject into confusion, and, finally, they contend and respectfully submit, that the high importance of the interests involved forbids hasty legislation, and de¬ mands that, whatever is done, should be the result of the most deliberate and mature investigation.
With these views and feelings, your Memorialists respect¬ fully urge, that your Honorable Body ask the Legislature to suspend action in the premises until time is given for a Joint Commission to be appointed by the State and City Govern¬ ments to examine and report upon the subject, or for the de¬ liberate adoption of such other course as may appear to be expedient.
ROBERT C. CORNELL, President.
A. P. HALSEY, Secretary.
3
DOCUMENT No. 76.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MARCH 14, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Laws , fyc. with a plan in re¬ lation to the equalization of the Wards of the City, and the Report which was referred back to them as pre¬ sented February 28 th. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Laws and Applications to the Legis¬ lature, to whom was referred the report recommending an application to the Legislature to equalize the wards of the City of New York, with instructions to report a plan at the next meeting of the Board, have, in accordance therewith, agreed on a plan of re-organizing the wards, and herewith respectfully submit the same ; and after a careful and delibe¬ rate examination of the subject, present the plan for adop¬ tion, as the result of their best judgment ; hoping that it will be found on an examination to have been calculated as cor¬ rectly as the nature of the data would allow, taking either the United States census of 1840, or the State census of 1835.
Doc. No. 76.]
586
The proposed alteration will be, to make the First, Se¬ cond , Third , and part of the Fourth wards into two wards. To make a new ward, or election district, from the Seventh, Tenth , and part of the Fourth ward, then to make the other ward, or election district, from the Eighth and Ninth wards. This division will give to each nearly five of the present election districts. The rate of population on an average of the seventeen wards made, on the census, taken 1840, (being 312,710 population of the city) will give to each about 18,400 inhabitants, and of the population of the
First ward, in 1840, say . 10,629
Second ward “ . 6,394
Third ward « . 11,581
Fourth ward “ (part of popu¬ lation being 15,770) . 8,000
- is 36,604
which will give as near as possible the requisite number of inhabitants for two wards.
To supply the place of the Third ward, the plan proposes to do so by taking the remaining part of the Fourth ward,
say . 7,500 population.
Part of the Seventh ward, (the population
of which was 22,982,) say . 7,500 “
Part of the Tenth ward (the population
of which was 29,026,) one district .... 3,400 “
18,400 «
To supply the place of the Fourth ward, it is proposed to take part of the Eighth and Ninth wards, the joint popula¬ tion of which were 53,868, which being divided into three, will give nearly the correct ratio.
Your Committee, acting on the supposition that it was not intended to have the present boundaries of the wards changed, unless from some very great disparity, have not thought it advisable to propose any alteration in the Fifth, Sixth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth, and
587
[Doc. No. 76.
Seventeenth wards. Of these wards, the Fourteenth has the greatest number of inhabitants, (20,235), (although it does not give so great a number of votes as the Fifth ward, which has a less number of inhabitants ;) in this ward no change was proposed, as it is scarcely reasonable to expect any material increase in the number of inhabitants, it being at present densely populated, and well covered with build¬ ings. Should no alteration be made in the present number of i the wards of the city, a portion of the Seventeenth ward might, with some propriety, be added to the Fourth ward ; say that part laying and being above Twenty-eighth street. This would add enough to the Twelfth ward to make it near the ratio of the other.
Your Committee had the subject of an increase number of wards under consideration, but did not deem the same to be advisable at this period. They are aware, however, that the necessary business of so large a city as New York, must, as a matter of course, impose heavy duties on the members of the Common Council. Should the question of paying the members be adopted, a change would undoubt¬ edly be made in the course of business; then adopting the day for what is now usually performed in the evening : and it is confidently expected, that after the introduction of the Croton water into the city, which it is hoped will be in a few months, that the arduous duties of the Fire and Water, and the Croton Aqueduct Committees, will then be conside¬ rably lessened. We therefore submit for adoption the fol¬ lowing resolution :
Resolved , That the Counsel to the Corporation be, and he is hereby instructed to prepare a memorial and accompa¬ nying bill, to be presented to the Legislature of this State, for a&law to authorize the alteration of the boundaries of the several wards of this city, on the plan hereto annexed. And further, that there shall be embodied in the said bill, a law to authorize the Common Council, under the direction of
Doc. No. 76.]
588
the Law Committee, (if they shall deem the same expedi¬ ent,) to alter, once in every ten years, the boundaries of the wards, and organize the same anew, in such manner as to them shall seem best, and so that such wards may contain, as nearly as may be practicable, an equal number of inha¬ bitants.
Respectfully submitted.
EDWARD S. INNES, MOSES G. LEONARD.
589
[Doc. No. 76.
MEMORANDUM.
In 1835 the City of New York contained 15 wards,
and population of . 270,089
Of these there were returned as being entitled to
vote . 43,098
Number of aliens . 27,669
Paupers . 1,799
Colored, not entitled to vote . 14,977
This would give a result of one alien in every 9f inhabitants, do. do. one pauper “ 150j “
do. do. one colored “ 18J- “
The population, by United States census of
1840, was, the number of wards 17 . 312,710
Taking the ratio of the number of persons
entitled to vote by the State census, we have 49,862 voters in 1840.
The same applied to aliens being . . . 32,035
“ paupers . 2,085
« colored . 17,078
The 17 wards, rated as per this table of 49,862 voters in 1840, ought to contain 2,933 voters each, and about 18,400 inhabitants.
If they were rated on the census of 1835, the result then is shown as 270,089 4- 15 = 18,006 voters to each ward. Wherefore it will be readily perceived that there is but slight difference in the inhabitants between that of 1835 and 1840.
REPORT
COMMITTEE ON LAWS, FEBRUARY 28, 1842, IN RELATION TO THE EQUALI¬ ZATION OF THE WARDS OK THE CITY OF NEW YORK, WHICH WAS REFERRED BACK WITH INSTRUCTIONS TO REPORT A PLAN COMPLETE AT THE NEXT MEETING OF THE BOARD.
Whereas, among the privileges most cherished by a free people, is the right to an equal representation in their Legis¬ lative Halls, to an equal voice in the formation of laws which tend to effect the security of their persons and pro¬ perty ; and whereas the Constitution guarantees to the peo¬ ple, an equal representation in the popular branch of the General Government, and also the State Constitution con¬ tains a similar provision, enforcing at fixed periods, an equal apportionment according to population, as enumerated by census ; and whereas, the practical enforcement of the prin¬ ciple of equal representation tends to awaken a lively inte¬ rest in the proper administration of the Government, to en¬ force a rigid economy in the expenditure of the public money, and to require the most exact accountability from public agents, therefore
Resolved , That the electors of the City of New York are, of right, justly entitled to an equal representation in the City Councils, and this sacred right should not be withheld from them.
Resolved, That the representation as now established, is unequal, and therefore violative of the fundamental principle of representative government.
591
[Doc. No. 76.
Resolved , That it be referred to the Committee on Laws, &c., to inquire into the expediency of applying to the Le¬ gislature, for the passage of a law dividing the City into election districts, said districts to contain an equal number of inhabitants as may be practicable ; each district to be entitled to an equal representation in the City Councils ; and in the event of the passage of such law by the Legislature, the question of its adoption be submitted to the people for their sanction or rejection.
By Alderman Purdy.
The Committee on Laws, to whom was referred the an¬ nexed resolutions, submitting it to them to inquire into the expediency of applying to the Legislature for the passage of a law for the more equal division of the wards of the city, so that each may contain, as near as practicable, an equal number of inhabitants, and be entitled to an equal represen¬ tation in the City Councils; and in the event of the passage of such law, the question of its approval be submitted to the people,
REPORT :
That, as appears from the schedule hereto annexed, the wards of the city have become very unequal in point of population; the lowest containing 6,406, and the highest 29,093; and each, as at present organized, being entitled to an equal representation. Your Committee fully concur in the purport of the foregoing preamble and resolutions, that it is the just right of the people to be equally represented in every branch of the Government. The City of New York is especially liable to great fluctuations in her local subdivi¬ sions, arising from the rapid growth of the upper part of the city, and the conversion of the lower into places of busi-
Doc. No. 76.]
592
ness. These changes have been going on for years, and yet a very long period has elapsed since any change has been made in the boundaries of the lower wards.
Your Committee, however, deem it entirely unnecessary to submit the adoption of any plan that may be proposed, to the people for their sanction, as it involves only questions of first principles, and to which there can be no reasonable ob¬ jection ; and the details of the plan must necessarily be settled, either by the Common Council or by the Legislature.
Your Committee deem that a change in the organization of the wards of the city should only be made when imperi¬ ously called for, and they concur in opinion that the present is a proper occasion for a more equal division of the repre¬ sentation in the City Councils.
They recommend the adoption of the following resolution :
Resolved , That the Counsel of the Corporation* be, and he is hereby instructed, to prepare a memorial and accompa¬ nying bill, to be presented to the Legislature, under the di¬ rection of the Law Committee, for a law to authorize the Common Council, once in every ten years, if they shall deem the same expedient, to alter the boundaries of the wards and organize the same anew, in such manner as to them shall seem best, and so that such wards may contain, as nearly as may be practicable, an equal number of inhabi¬ tants.
593
[Doc. No. 76.
Calculation of the proportion of Voters to the Inhabitants made on last United States census, in the several Wards of the City.
Rate of average in seventeen wards 18,404 inhabitants.
|
Wards. |
Population. |
Mayoralty- Ticket, |
Number of Electoral Districts. |
Katio of vc |
>te to each Inhabitant. |
|
|
1st. |
10,629 |
1,383 |
3 |
1 for every 7 T% |
inhabitant. |
|
|
2d. |
6,406 |
995 |
2 |
1 “ |
Of |
“ |
|
3d. |
11,581 |
1,801 |
3 |
1 “ |
6f |
“ |
|
4th. |
15,770 |
2,116 |
4 |
1 |
n |
u |
|
5th. |
19,159 |
2,322 |
4 |
1 “ |
8|- |
|
|
6th. |
17,199 |
1,794 |
4 |
1 “ |
||
|
7th. |
22,985 |
3,045 |
7 |
1 “ |
7t85 |
“ |
|
8th. |
29,073 |
3,661 |
8 |
1 “ |
7H |
11 |
|
9th. |
24,795 |
2,991 |
6 |
1 “ |
8A |
u |
|
10th. |
29,093 |
2,766 |
5 |
1 “ |
mi |
“ |
|
11th. |
17,052 |
2,010 |
4 |
1 “ |
8f |
“ |
|
12th. |
11,678 |
883 |
2 |
1 “ |
||
|
13th. |
18,516 |
2,329 |
4 |
1 « |
7ff |
“ |
|
14th. |
20,230 |
2,186 |
4 |
1 “ |
9f |
11 |
|
15th. |
17,769 |
2,037 |
4 |
1 “ |
8tV |
“ |
|
16th. |
22,275 |
2,242 |
5 |
1 “ |
9fl |
“ |
|
17th. |
18,622 |
2,447 |
5 |
1 « |
7f |
Greatest number of voters in 2d and 3d wards, 1 to 6f
Least number of voters in 10th and 12th wards, 1 to ?
1 to lOf-f )
Respectfully submitted.
2
EDWARD S. INNES, MOSES G. LEONARD.
■’ . ■ • • • >'u\ , \ >
- ■ . • ■
.
lytf ianadua vUnUaaqasJI
,8355*11 .8 <UiAWO
s\m
DOCUMENT No. 77.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MARCH 14, 1842.
The Committee on Laws , fyc., to whom was referred a report from the Board of Supervisors in relation to the Collection of Taxes , presented the following report thereon , with the annexed Bills, to be presented to the Le¬ gislature at its present session, viz., for the earlier col¬ lection of taxes in the City of New York : also, for re¬ peating the laws allowing Incorporated Companies to commute their taxes in the City of New York, and also, a Bill for repealing the law allowing the owners of real estate to reduce the valuation thereof by affidavit: whereupon the two former were passed and directed to be sent to the Board of Assistant Aldermen for concur¬ rence, and the latter laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Laws and Applications to the Legisla¬ ture, to whom was referred a resolution of the Board of Su¬ pervisors, recommending the Corporation to memorialize the
Doc. No. 77.]
596
Legislature, at its present session, for an amendment of the present assessment laws, respectfully
REPORT :
That by section 15, of art. 2d, title 2d, Chapter 13, of the 1st part of the Revised Statutes, it is enacted, “ If any per¬ son, whose real or personal estate is liable to taxation, shall at any time, before the Assessors shall have completed their assessments, make affidavit, that the value of his real estate does not exceed a certain sum, to be specified in such affidavit ; or that the value of the personal estate, owned by him, after deducting his just debts, and his property invested in the stock of incorporated companies, liable under this chapter to taxa¬ tion on their capital, does not exceed a certain sum to be speci¬ fied in their affidavit, it shall be the duty of the Assessors to value such real or personal estate, or both as the case may be, at the sums specified in such affidavit and no more.”
The examination which your Committee have given to the practical operation of this section, has resulted in a full con¬ viction of the propriety of the application recommended by the Board of Supervisors; fully coinciding in the views of the Committee of that Board upon this subject, they append their remarks instead of any argument of their own. “ Under this section the value of a large portion of the real estate was sworn down nearly forty per cent, below the valuation of the Assessors, at the making the assessment for the tax of the present year, while adjoining property of precisely the same value, remained at the original appraisement, thus prac¬ tically enforcing an unequal system of taxation. The true end of laws imposing tax, should be to distribute the necessary burdens of the government by impartial rules ; this has perhaps never been actually effected ; the possession of property, which is the sole foundation of our rules upon this subject, cannot in all instances be certainly ascertained ; the personal estate is a matter in which the evidence of the tax payer must be
597
[Doc. No. 77.
admitted, it is necessarily unknown to the Assessors, and is the only evidence that can be procured ; it is therefore the best evidence.
« The laws then which enable the tax payer to revise the assessment roll, as respects his personal tax under oath, can¬ not in this feature be improved. The value of real estate, however, is not subject to the same uncertainty and doubt ; it is in the actual view of the Assessors, who are enabled to judge of its value correctly, according to, and comparatively with their scale of valuation, established in the assessment of all property in the district. It is not a high, or low standard of valuation that distributes unequal taxation, it is the fluc¬ tuating standard, which of necessity results from making as many Assessors of real estate, as there are owners of parcels of land, that mainly causes unequal taxation; in this respect in the opinion of your Committee, the law quoted above is imperfect. They therefore recommend the passage of a re¬ solution annexed, to memorialize the Legislature so to amend the said section fifteen, as to confine its application to personal estate.”
In this connexion, the attention of your Committee has been directed to sections 11, and 14, of title 4, Chapter 13, of part 1. of the Revised Statutes, which are as follows : “ All Com¬ panies employed, wholly or principally in manufacturing, and all marine insurance companies, whose net annual in¬ come shall not exceed five per cent, on the capital stock paid in, and secured to be paid in, shall be entitled to com¬ mute for their taxes, by paying directly to the Treasurer of the County in which the business of the company is transacted five per cent, upon all such net income, made by such com¬ pany during the preceding year.
The President or other proper officer of each company electing to commute, shall make affidavit before some officer authorized to take affidavits, stating the amount of such net income ; and on filing the same with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors, at their annual meeting, within two days
Doc. No. 77.]
598
from the commencement thereof, accompanied by the receipt of the County Treasurer, acknowledging the payment of the proper commutation, such Board of Supervisors shall impose no tax on the property of such company.
Under these sections, a large productive capital can escape taxation, provided it produces no more than five per cent. It is under these sections, that the principle of taxing income only is established, and is confined solely to incorporations, while owners of wholly unproductive real estate, are annu¬ ally taxed upon its value rated as improvable property. Were the principle of taxing income to be general when such income is below the standard of five per cent., a large amount of improved real estate in our city would be allowed to com¬ mute, the whole unproductive real estate of the county would escape taxation entirely, and a large portion of per¬ sonal property which is now termed inactive, or yielding less than five per cent., as must be the case in conducting many mercantile and mechanical pursuits, would also either escape taxation, or be entitled to commute, if the principle of taxing income alone were extended from corporations to individu¬ als. The exception of corporations under these sections is in effect augmenting the taxes upon the estates of individu¬ als, and your Committee recommend the passage of an ac¬ companying resolution, to apply to the Legislature to amend the said laws so as to make the said section inapplicable to this city.
A subject of great importance to the financial interests of the City Government, requiring correction by the state au¬ thority, has been brought to our notice in the report of the Comptroller, who remarks in substance as follows : “ The necessity of making temporary loans to meet the current ex¬ penses of the year, in anticipation of the tax, arises from the fact that the tax imposed is not, in practice, collected until the year succeeding. Every effort has been used by the De¬ partment of Finance to effect the collection of the tax before the end of the fiscal year, but in vain. The wealthiest in-
599
[Doc. No. 77.
habitants delay the payment of their taxes, until the latest period, within which they are allow ed to do so without cost. The tax books are usually ready by the middle of October. The Collectors make but few collections until the 10th Feb¬ ruary following, on which day a penalty of one per cent, is added to the tax unpaid, by a law of the state, passed April 13, 1835. Were this penalty to be added in November in¬ stead of February, the tax could be realized to the Treasury within the year, and a resort to temporary loans be obviated ; besides this, the interest thus to be saved would materially reduce the amount of the annual taxes. The inconvenience and expense attending the present dilatory system of col¬ lecting taxes has several times been brought to the notice of the Common Council.” As a remedial measure, the present Comptroller, in his report of the year 1839, recommended the funding of one million three hundred thousand dollars, and an application was subsequently made to the state for the necessary power, but with partial success. At that time the temporary debt incurred for ordinary purposes exceeded the outstanding revenue nearly four hundred thousand, dol¬ lars. The temporary debt at the close of 1841, incurred for ordinary purposes, was less than the uncollected tax by five hundred thousand and fifty dollars. This has enabled the city to dispense with a part of its former temporary loans. Dur¬ ing the year 1842, however, new taxes are to be levied to meet the writer interest ; and perhaps the demands of the state to an amount estimated at six hundred and ninety thousand dollars; and as this will have to be paid by the city during the year, while the tax cannot be realized under the present law till next year, it will increase our temporary loans by that amount, to be raised in a period of great diffi¬ culty in effecting Government loans. Your Committee deem it unworthy of the resources of this great city, that it should thus become a perpetual borrower in competition with the trading community, and thus subject itself to a constant re¬ sort to its credit. It is but a prudent course if not an im-
Doc. No. 77.]
600
perative duty to propose a remedy in time, and remove from the city the chance of hazarding its credit, by recommending an application for a change in the laws to take away the necessity of its exercise. They therefore recommend the adoption of the accompanying resolution, to apply to the Le¬ gislature, so to amend the laws as to impose the penalty of one per cent, on all taxes unpaid on the 30th November, and an additional one per cent, for every month succeeding.
All which, with the three accompanying resolutions, are respectfully submitted by your Committee.
EDWARD S. INNES,
MOSES G. LEONARD.
Resolved , That application be made to the Legislature in session, for the passage of an Act to amend existing Acts in relation to assessments and taxes, according to the provi¬ sions contained in the annexed bill ; and that the Counsel of the Corporation, under the direction of the Committee on Finance, prepare a memorial to the Legislature, and that the Committee take measures to carry this resolution into effect.
AN ACT
RESPECTING “THE COLLECTION OF TAXES IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK.”
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
§ 1. The Assessors annually chosen in each ward of the City of New York, shall, on or before the fifth day of June
601
[Doc. No. 77.
next after being chosen, proceed to assess the property in their respective wards, according to law; and shall complete their assessments according to law, on or before the thirty- first day of August next following, and make out one fair copy thereof, to be left with one of their Board, on or before the first day of September next following; and shall there¬ upon, according to law, give notice of their having completed such assessment, and that a copy thereof is left with one ot their number (naming him) where the same may be seen and examined by any of the inhabitants during ten days from the said first day of September; unless the same fall on Sunday, in which case such notice shall be given for the ten days succeeding the second day of September ; and that they will meet at the expiration of the said ten days, at a place in the said notice to be specified, to review their as¬ sessments, on the application of any person conceiving him¬ self aggrieved : and such proceeding shall thereupon take place as is by law provided. And such Assessors shall sign the said assessment roll, and deliver the same, on or before the first day of October next ensuing, to the Comptroller of the said City, who shall deliver the same to the Supervisors of the said City, at their next meeting; and that for any neglect, omission, or refusal to perform the requirements of this section, the parties offending shall be liable to the penal¬ ties mentioned in the 11th section of the Act of April 23d, 1823, entitled “ An Act for the assessment and collection of taxes.”
§ 2. The first section of the Act entitled, “ An Act autho¬ rizing a per centage to be added to unpaid taxes in the City of New York,” passed April 13th, 1835, is hereby amended so that the said section shall hereafter read as follows: Whenever any tax of any description on the estates real or personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated in, the City of New York, shall remain unpaid on the 30th day of November, next ensuing the time prescribed by law for the delivery of the assessment rolls to the Collectors in
Due. No. 77.]
602
the said city, it shall be lawful for the Collector, whose duty it may be to collect such tax, to charge, receive, and collect, in addition to the amount of such tax, one per cent, on the amount thereof; and to charge, receive, and collect upon such tax so remaining unpaid on the last day of each month, between the month of November and the time prescribed by law for the Collectors in the said city to make their returns to the Chamberlain or Treasurer thereof, a further addition or increase of one per cent, upon the amount of such tax, and such increase or per centage shall be paid over and ac¬ counted for by such Collector as a part of the tax collected by him.
The Act entitled “ An Act to amend the Acts respecting the collection of taxes in the City of New York,” passed April 13th, 1839, is hereby repealed.
Amendment — Passed after being amended so that the books shall be open for amendment from the 20th of August to the 10th day of September.
Resolved, That application be made to the Legislature in session, for the passage of an Act to amend the Revised Sta¬ tutes, according to the provision contained in the annexed Bill ; and that the Counsel of the Corporation, under the di¬ rection of the Committee on Laws, prepare a memorial to the Legislature, and that said Committee take measures to carry this resolution into effect.
603
[Doc. No. 77.
AN ACT
TO AMEND THE REVISED STATUTES.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly , do enact as follows :
§ 1. That so much of section eleven and section fourteen, of title four, chapter thirteen, of the first part of the Revised Statutes, as relates to all Marine Insurance Companies, shall not apply to the City and County of New York.
Resolved , That application be made to the Legislature in session, for the passage of an Act to amend the Revised Sta¬ tutes according to the provisions contained in the annexed bill, and that the Counsel, under direction of the Committee on Laws, prepare a memorial to the Legislature, and that said Committee take measures to carry this resolution into effect.
AN ACT
TO AMEND THE REVISED STATUTES.
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
§ 1. Section 15, Art. 2d, Tit. 2d, Chap. 13th, of the first part of the Revised Statutes is hereby amended so as to read as follows : If any person, whose personal estate is liable to taxation, shall at any time before the Assessors shall have completed their assessments, make affidavit that the value of his personal estate, after deducting his just debts, and his property invested in the stock of incorporated companies, liable under this chapter to taxation on their capital, does not exceed a certain sum, to be specified in the affidavit, it shall be the duty of the Assessors to value such personal estate at the sum specified in such affidavit, and no more.
2
DOCUMENT No. 78.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MARCH 21, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Charity and Alms House, in regard to purchasing property at the foot of Sixty-first street , at the ferry to Blackwell's Island. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed for the use of the mem¬ bers.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clf.uk.
Resolved, That it be referred to the Committee on Charity and Alms House, to ascertain the lowest terms that will be re¬ ceived for so much property at the foot of Sixty-first street, as in their judgment is required for the public convenience, and report to this Board at their earliest opportunity.
By Alderman Leonard.
The Committee on Charity and Alms House, to whom was referred the annexed resolution, respectfully
Doc. No. 78.]
606
REPORT .
That in investigating the subject matter referred to them, they have thought proper to consult the opinions of the Judges of our Criminal Courts and the heads of the Alms House, Hospital, and Penitentiary Departments, on the pro¬ priety of the Corporation controlling the landing at the ferry to Blackwell’s Island, and of providing a place of security for prisoners, and accommodation for the sick &c., on this side of the river, and annex their communications to this re¬ port.
Your Committee further report that it is a notorious fact that the sick who are sent to the hospitals on the island, are at present cruelly detained on the wharf without shelter, un¬ til the ferry boat can be forwarded from the island, and then embarked in all the inclemencies of the seasons, and in many instances, at the risk of their lives, and that prisoners, through the boat’s crews, have free intercourse with citizens and their old companions.
Your Committee also report that in the establishment of a receiving house for the sick, &c., where contagious and in¬ fectious diseases are necessarily admitted, motives of hu¬ manity, as well as public policy, require that such building should be within an ample enclosure that will secure a free circulation of air, and prevent the spreading of any contagion amongst our citizens in the neighborhood.
Your Committee also report that the Chairman addressed a letter to the owner of the property, requesting him to state on what terms it might be purchased, and received the an¬ nexed reply.
The Committee after a careful investigation of the subject matter referred to them, are convinced of the imperative ne¬ cessity of the immediate possession of this property by the public.
They therefore offer for adoption the following resolution, viz :
607 [Doc. No. 78.
Resolved , That the proposition of Jeremiah Towle, hereto annexed, be and the same is hereby accepted Respectfully submitted.
SAMUEL BRADHURST,
DAYID YANDERVOORT.
To the, Committee, on Charity and Alms House :
The subject of providing on this side of the river, at the ferry to Blackwell’s Island, proper means for the security of prisoners, as well as suitable accommodations for the sick and others, who are under the necessity of being transported to the island, being now before the Committee on Charity and Alms House for their consideration, we deem it our duty as public officers to urge on the Committee and on the Common Council the necessity of providing such accommodations as well for security and protection, as to prevent the too open palpable intercourse now existing between the prisoners on the island and their associates in the city, which at present, baffles the best efforts of the Keepers, and of the Police.
New York, January 15, 1842.
E. STEYENS,
H. W. MERRITT,
MILN PARKER,
GEORGE W. MATSELL,
Police Magistrates.
F. A. TALLMADGE,
Recorder of the City of New York.
B. W. OSBORN,
Clerk of Police Court.
Doc. No. 78.]
608
JOHN MYER,
Superintendent of Alms House.
ALEXANDER F. VACHE,
Resident Physician.
john McClelland,
Assistant Physician at Lunatic Asylum.
JOHN W. BROWN,
Keeper of BlackwelVs Island.
JAMES H. RUCKEL,
Deputy Keeper of the Penitentiary.
HENRY YANDERYOORT,
Clerk of Sessions, fyc.
607*
[Doc. No. 78.
New York, December 31, 1841.
Samuel Bradhurst, Esq..,
Chairman Committee Charity , fyc.
Dear Sit — In reply to your favor of the 16th instant, re¬ questing to know on what terms, and at what price I would be willing to part with, or dispose of my property at the foot of Sixty-first street on the East River, I must say that I do not wish to part with the whole of my property on the East River at the present time : and I feel a delicacy in naming a price, at a time when all prices of real estate, and particu¬ larly of property out of town, is so precarious and unsettled ; but I will submit that part of it which is deemed the most essential to appraisement, the usual way of taking private pro¬ perty for public purposes, and will endeavor to make to you such a proposition as I think cannot fail to be satisfactory to the constituency of the Common Council, which will prevent all unpleasant discussion, and in the adoption of which I shall have no right to complain of injustice, even if I should be disappointed in the valuation decided upon.
The property which I would be willing to part with is de¬ scribed as follows, viz : all those certain six lots of land in the Twelfth ward of this city, forming a part of the Mount Yernon property, and known and distinguished on a map of the same, made by Edward Doughty, City Surveyor, dated September 5, 1826, and on file in the office of Register, in and for the City and County of New York, by lots Nos. nineteen, (19) twenty, (20) twenty-one, (21) forty, (40) forty- one, (41) forty-two, (42) and bounded as follows, viz: begin¬ ning at the south-west corner of avenue A, and Sixty-first street, thence running north-west along said street, three hundred and thirteen feet to the easterly line of lot No. 22; thence along said line at right angles with Sixty-first street
Doc. No. 78.]
608*
to Sixtieth street; thence along Sixtieth street 273 feet to land of the late Thomas C. Pearsall ; thence along said Pearsall’s line to avenue A ; thence along said avenue to the place of beginning ; together with all my right, title, and interest in avenue A and wharf in front of the said lots on the East River.
I will therefore submit that the above described property be taken on the following terms, viz : that the Committee on Charity and the Alms House be empowered to appoint one appraiser, that I be authorized to appoint another, and that the two thus selected be empowered to choose a third, who shall not be obnoxious to the Committee or to me ; all of whom shall be sworn faithfully to perform the trust confided to them, and their award and decision, or the award and deci¬ sion of a majority of them shall be binding on both parties.
Very respectfully.
J. TOWLE.
DOCUMENT No. 79.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MARCH 21, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Arts and Sciences and Schools, in regard to the Establishment of Messrs. Collon fy Cantel. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
The Committee on Arts and Sciences, &c., to whom were referred that part of the communication received from his Honor the Mayor, bearing date the 15th of November, 1841, which related to the proposition of Messrs. Collon & Cantel, and the accompanying documents, beg leave respectfully to
REPORT :
That Messrs. Collon & Cantel have formed an establish¬ ment, and erected certain works, on Forty-first street, near the Hudson River, for the purpose of converting the car-
Doc. No. 79.]
610
casses of dead animals into various useful materials, and thus render one of the nuisances to which our city has, hitherto, been exposed, a source of individual employment and pros¬ perity, and of public advantage and national wealth.
To render this plan effective, they ask a modification of existing ordinances, in relation to the disposition of the bodies of dead animals, and the enactment of new regula¬ tions, better designed to prevent delay and undue exposure in the removal of carcasses, and wholly preventing these nui¬ sances from returning upon our citizens, and floating around our wharves, as they now do, after being thrown into the rivers. The Committee have deemed the subject to which his Honor the Mayor has invited the attention of the Board, to be of great importance to the cleanliness and health of the city, and they have bestowed upon it an unusual degree of attention. They have been sensible that the existing ordinances did not provide an effectual abatement of a most revolting nuisance; and in many cases, after our citizens had fully complied with the requirements of the law, and removed the carcasses and thrown them into the river, they have been carried by the ebbing and flowing of the tides, into and around our most important places of business; be¬ coming there, in many cases, more offensive to our citizens than if left to decomposition without any removal.
In considering the laws rendered necessary to preserve public health, and to keep our city free from nuisances, your Committee have been deeply impressed with the importance of consulting the convenience of our citizens.
The existing ordinances on the subject of the disposition of the bodies of dead animals, seem to have been founded principally upon that view of the subject; for under their operation the evil remains for a longer or shorter time, and frequently in a more exposed and aggravated form.
A change in our present laws, by which the bodies of dead animals can be effectively and completely removed, is obvi¬ ously desirable, provided such means can be found, without
611
[Doc. No. 79.
introducing a nuisance in another form, or interfering with the rights of our eitizens, to have these public objects accom¬ plished with the least practicable inconvenience and expense to them. Your Committee have, therefore, examined with at¬ tention the plan submitted by Messrs. Collon & Cantel, and have visited their establishment, erected for this object, in Forty-first street, near the Hudson River. It appeared to your Committee to be essential that such an establishment should be located where it could produce no injury or incon¬ venience to the owners of the adjacent property, and give no offensive exposure to our citizens; and from a personal examination of the ground selected by Messrs. Collon <fc Cantel, it appears to your Committee that a more retired or secluded spot, or more secluded from observation, and, at the same time, furnishing all suitable facilities for the busi¬ ness proposed to be conducted, could not be found upon our island.
The adjacent lands belong to the estate from which Messrs. Collon & Cantel have obtained their lease of these premises for the purpose of this business ; and the location is upon an indentation of the river, as far removed from the channel of navigation as any point that could be found — it is also remote from any public thoroughfare upon the island, and so distant from the part of the city now covered with build¬ ings, that it may long exist before any growth of the city will bring its actual occupation within the reach of any influences that may arise from the prosecution of the busi¬ ness.
The location made for the purpose being such as your Committee fully approve, the important question remains to be considered, whether these public and private advantages can be secured without imposing undue burthens upon our citizens.
Upon examining the legislation of other cities in the United States, in reference to this subject, your Committee do not find any municipal regulations providing for a simi-
Doc. No. 79.]
612
lar establishment, except in the City of New Orleans. Du¬ ring the last year, it appears that provison was made by law to have the bodies of all dead animals transported to a place erected for the purpose, under an arrangement which com¬ mends itself for its simplicity and economy. In that city the Watch House was designated as the place at which notice of any dead animal was to be given, and it was made the duty of the proprietors to remove the body within twelve hours thereafter. The owner of any such dead animal, if known, was required to pay two dollars for each animal transported by the proprietors, or to transport the same himself, within twelve hours, to their establishment; and a penalty was af¬ fixed for any neglect of this duty. In the proposition which Messrs. Collon & Cantel have submitted to your Committee, they contemplate an arrangement more beneficial to our citizens than is provided in the Ordinances of the City of New Orleans. For the convenience of our citizens they propose to establish, at their own expense, three offices, at which notice may be left of the place where the body of any dead animal may be found, and to send for and remove any such body to their establishment, on the same day that any such notice is given, free of any charge to the citizen or the Corporation. They propose to locate their offices as follows, viz. : one in the Bowery, near Tompkins Market ; one in Hudson street, near Canal street,; and one in Divi¬ sion street, at or near its junction with Grand street. They also engage to remove, without any charge or expense to the city , the bodies of all dead animals, of any description, that may be found in any of the public streets, or roads, or places of this city, upon a notice thereof being left by any Street Inspector, at one of the offices to be established by them. In return for these services, they only ask that it may be made the duty of our citizens to give immediate notice of all dead animals, at one of the offices to be established, or to remove the carcass thereof to their establishment at Forty- first street; and to prohibit the throwing of dead animals in
613
[Doc. No. 79.
the public streets or places, and the throwing their carcasses into the waters adjacent to the city, under the ordinary pe¬ nalties.
For the security of the public in the management of their establishment, they propose that the same shall be at all times subject to the inspection of the City Authorities ; that it shall be kept with cleanliness; and if at any time it shall become dangerous to the public health, or interfere with the comfort or well being of the neighborhood where it is lo¬ cated, the Common Council shall reserve, and always pos¬ sess, the right to close its doors, or to cause it to be re¬ moved.
Under the arrangement thus proposed, it appears to your Committee that the public health, cleanliness, and appearance of the city, will be essentially improved ; the convenience and economy of our citizens promoted ; and a class of sub¬ jects which, under existing regulations, are a source of con¬ tinual oJEFence, will be speedily removed, and converted into sources of individual profit and national advancement.
Your Committee therefore cordially recommend the plan suggested in the communication of his Honor the Mayor, to the adoption of the Board, and beg leave to propose the ordi¬ nances hereto annexed, to carry the same into effect.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
CALVIN BALIS,
MOSES G. LEONARD.
AN ORDINANCE
CONCERNING DEAD ANIMALS.
The Mayor , Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of
New York, in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
§ I. The establishment now provided by Messrs. Collon & Cantel, on Forty-first street, at the Hudson River, shall be the depot for the bodies of all animals dying within the limits of this city south of street.
§ 2. The said establishment shall at all times be subject to the inspection of the city authorities, and shall be kept with the utmost cleanliness. If from negligence, or any other cause, such establishment shall become dangerous to the public health, or interfere with the comfort and well being of the inhabitants in its vicinity, the Common Council shall always possess and hereby reserve the right to close its doors, or cause it to be removed to another location, as they may deem most expedient.
§ 3. It shall be the duty of Messrs. Collon & Cantel, and the proprietors of such establishment, within twenty days af¬ ter the passage of these ordinances, to cause three offices to be provided, and to be kept and maintained, for the purpose of receiving notices of the place or places where any body of any dead animal may be found, which offices shall be located as follows, viz. : one in the Bowery, near Tomp¬ kins Market ; one in Hudson street, near Canal street ; and one in Division street, near its junction with Grand street.
§ 4. It shall be the duty of every citizen owning any ani¬ mal which shall die within the limits aforesaid, or in the occupation of any lot of ground, dwelling houses, or pre¬ mises, of any description, upon which the body of any dead
Doc. No. 79.] 616
animal shall be found, and of the several Street Inspectors of the several wards in this city, immediately after such death, or the discovery thereof, to give notice thereof, and of the place where the body of such animal may be found, at one of the offices so to be established as aforesaid, or to trans¬ port, or cause to be transported, the body of any such dead animal to the depot aforesaid, under the penalty of
§ 5. It shall be the duty of Messrs. Collon & Cantel, and of every person and persons, who may hereafter become pro¬ prietor of, or interested in the depot aforesaid, to call at each and every of the offices so to be established and maintained as aforesaid, at least once each day, to obtain the notices or reports which shall be made to such offices under the provi¬ sions of this ordinance, or to transport, or cause to be trans¬ ported to the depot aforesaid, all such bodies of dead animals as they may find, to be transported within twelve hours after such notice as aforesaid, under a penalty of for
each offence.
§ 6. The burial of any dead animal within the limits aforesaid, or the throwing of any body of any dead animal into the waters bounding this city, or in any public street, highway, or place, within the limits aforesaid, is hereby pro¬ hibited, under the penalty of dollars for each
offence.
§ 7. All ordinances, or parts of ordinances, contrary to the provisions of this ordinance, are hereby repealed.
DOCUMENT No. 80.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 18, 1842.
Communication from the Comptroller relative to the Establishment of a Water Department , with a pro¬ gramme of a Law for the same. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, )
New York , April 18, 1842. $
To the Honorable the Common Council:
Gentlemen, — I have the honor to submit a programme of an Ordinance to regulate the Water Works of the City of New York, for your consideration. This shape has been adopted as the briefest and clearest form of communicating the suggestions it is my duty to make, and to show the prac¬ tical operation of the plan I submit. An Act of the Legisla¬ ture has been obtained at the late session, empowering the
Doc. No. 80.]
618
Common Council to pass penal laws for the protection of the water works, and to establish a Department for the collection of revenues.
The Ordinance submitted, proposes to provide for keeping the aqueduct and pipes in repair; for gradually extending the distributing pipes as the city increases, and for fixing, col¬ lecting, and managing the revenue by an Executive Depart¬ ment according to the charter ; the repairs and laying of the distributing pipes to be done by contract, made after public notice for proposals — the laying of the service or lateral pipes to be done by licensed persons, at the individual expense of the consumers ; the rents to be paid in advance.
Respectfully submitted.
ALFRED A. SMITH, Comptroller.
619
[Doc. No. 80.
EXTRACT
FROM A LAW PASSED APRIL 11, 1842, ENTITLED
« AN ACT FOR THE PRESERVATION OF THE CROTON WATER WORKS.”
The Mayor, Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of New York, are hereby authorized to pass such by-laws and ordinances as to them shall seem meet for the preservation and protection of all or any of the works connected with the supplying of the City of New York with pure and whole¬ some water, under and by virtue of the act to provide for supplying the City of New York with pure and wholesome water, passed May 2d, 1834, and the Acts amending the same ; provided that such by-laws and ordinances are not inconsistent with any laws of this State, or with the Consti¬ tution thereof, subject at any time to be repealed or modi¬ fied by the Legislature, and also to organize a department with full power for the management of such works and the distribution of the said water.
Doc. No. 80.]
620
AN ORDINANCE
TO REGULATE THE WATER WORKS OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK.
The Mayor , Aldermen and Commonalty of the City of
New York, in Common Council convened , do ordain as follows :
§ 1. A Department to be called the “ Water Works,” is hereby established.
§ 2. The Croton Lake, dam, aqueduct, bridges, reservoir, distributing pipes, hydrants, pumps, fountains, and stop¬ cocks belonging to the Corporation, of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New York, and all land and works owned by the said Corporation, adjacent thereto, or connected therewith, shall be hereafter known and desig¬ nated as the “ Water Works.”
§ 3. The Water Commissioners for the City of New York, are empowered to construct the aqueduct from the Croton River to the distributing reservoir according to law.
§ 4. All other executive duties pertaining to “ the Water Works,” are hereby imposed upon the department established by this ordinance.
§5. A Standing Committee, to be called “the Water Committee,” shall annually be appointed by each Board of the Common Council, to whom all propositions relative to the water works, presented to either Board, may be com¬ mitted. The said Committees shall have at all times the right to examine the accounts, vouchers, and the state of the department.
§ 6. The Mayor, Comptroller, Counsel to the Corpora¬ tion, the Treasurer, the Superintendent, and the Chairman
621
[Doc. No. 80.
of the Water Committees, shall, by right of office, compose the “Water Board;” any four of whom, the Comptroller being one, shall be competent to discharge the powers and func¬ tions of such Board.
Note — These officers are selected because the Mayor is the chief executive officer of the city, and as such, is charged to see all the laws executed. The Comptroller is the chief auditing officer, and is required here to be always present, in order that all acts of the Board shall be entered in the Comptroller’s office. The Counsel to the Corporation is in¬ dispensable in the formation of the by-laws which the Water Board is empowered to make, and in the enforcement of them. The Superintendent will, at all times, be practically informed of the condition and requirements of the Water Works. The Chairmen of the Committees will form a ready link of communication with the Board and the Common Council.
§ 7. All vacancies in office in this department shall be temporarily supplied by the Water Board.
§ 8. The Water Board shall possess the powers and dis¬ charge the duties enumerated in this ordinance, or which shall hereafter be by ordinance declared.
§ 9. The Water Board is hereby empowered and directed to cause the water works to be kept in complete repair, in¬ cluding all station houses, wiers, offices and other edifices belonging to the water works ;«and at such places from time to time, to erect such other offices and station houses, as they shall deem necessary for the supervision and profitable use of the works.
§ 10. The Water Board are hereby empowered and di¬ rected to appoint all such officers, other than those created by this ordinance, as they shall deem necessary for the pro¬ per administration of this department, and to determine the compensation to be allowed to each of such officers, and fix
Doc. No. 80.]
622
the nature and amount of surety to be given by each, for the faithful performance of their respective duties.
To fix, from time to time, the rate of rents to be paid by the inhabitants for the use of water, and prescribe such rules and regulations relative to their collection, and impose such penalties and forfeitures of money for the breach thereof, as they from time to time shall judge proper ; no such forfeiture or penalty to exceed dollars, or to be binding where
the Corporation shall* have by ordinance specially provided a penalty for the same offence.
To cause all such public fountains to be erected, and such mains and distributing pipes to be laid, and such ordi¬ nary repairs to be done to the water works as they shall deem requisite, the amount thereof not to exceed the appro¬ priations previously made for these objects respectively.
To direct the employment of so many agents, workmen, and other persons as they may judge necessary to effect the said objects, at such compensation as they shall judge rea¬ sonable.
To have the general care and superintendence of the water works, and to keep and preserve regular minutes of all their proceedings.
To file in the office of the Comptroller a certified copy of all rules and regulations and forfeitures established by their Board under this ordinance.
All officers of the Water Department, and all parties con¬ tracting with any such officers, or with the Water Works Department to be affected thereby, shall subscribe to the same before entering upon the office or trust they shall have accepted, or performing the work or service, they shall have undertaken.
To assign to all officers of the Water Department their respective duties.
§ 11. Whenever the Water Board shall have received from the Superintendent the plan of any extraordinary re¬ pairs or improvements on the water works, and a detailed
623
[Doc. No. 80.
estimate of the expense thereof, if such estimate shall not exceed dollars, they may direct such
improvements, or repairs to be made, provided the unem¬ ployed balance of the proper appropriation remaining unex¬ pended will permit ; but if the estimated expense exceed the said sum, or the said balance or either, they shall report the plan and estimate, with their opinion thereon, through the Mayor, to the Common Council.
§ 12. The Water Board may, from time to time, make such rules and regulations in respect to service and conduit pipes, tapping, paving and repairing the streets, and other matters affecting the distribution of the Croton water, and impose such penalties and forfeitures of money for a breach thereof as they may judge reasonable.
§ 13. Within twenty days after the second Tuesday in May, the Water Board shall make a report to the Common Council, stating the condition of the water works, the im¬ provements and repairs made during the past year and con¬ templated to be made, the amount of money expended on the water works, and the receipts, with such recommenda¬ tions in relation to the water works as they shall deem the public interest to require.
§ 14. Complete manuscript maps, with full notes, of the water works, and of the lands belonging to the said Corpo¬ ration, adjacent thereto, or connected therewith, with all in¬ tersecting roads, towns, villages, &c. shall be made, on which the boundaries of every parcel of such lands to which the said Corporation shall have a separate title shall be de¬ signated, and the names of the former owners, and the date of each title be entered, under the direction of the Water Board, and when approved by that Board, shall be authenti¬ cated and filed in the office of the Comptroller of the city. A copy of such map and notes, so far as the same shall be com¬ prehended in the County of Westchester, shall be transmit¬ ted and filed in the Clerk’s office of that County.
§ 15. All contracts relative to the water works, directed to
Doc. No. 80.] 624
be made by the Common Council or the Water Board, shall be made in writing ; and of each contract three copies shall be executed by the parties — one of which shall be filed in the Comptroller’s office, and one retained by the Water Board.
§ 16. All work to be done, and all materials to be pur¬ chased on or for the water works, except in sudden and im¬ minent cases, shall be by contract, made after due public notice; and no money shall be paid thereon until such con¬ tract, approved by the Water Board, shall be filed in the Comptroller’s office. All bills presented for payment shall be first approved by the Superintendent.
§ 17. Public notice shall be given of the time and place at which sealed proposals shall be received for contracts for, or on account of, the water works; which notice shall be published, at least one week, in the paper designated by the Corporation. No alternative, or indefinite condition, or limitation as to price, in a proposal, shall be received or acted on; nor shall more than one proposition, from any one person, for the same contract, be received. All the proposi¬ tions, when more than one is offered from the same person for the Same object, shall be rejected.
§ 18. Every person who shall epter into any contract for, or on account of, the water works, shall give satisfac¬ tory security for the faithful performance of his contract, according to its terms; and if any person shall neglect or refuse to perform his contract, he shall be excluded from any interest in any future contract in relation to the water works.
§ 19. No extra allowance, over and above the contract price, shall be made to any contractor, unless such extra allowance be directed by the Common Council.
§ 20. A Superintendent of the Water Works, a Water Purveyor, and a Register of Rents, shall be appointed by the Common Council, to hold their respective offices during
625
[Doc. No. 80.
the pleasure of the said Common Council, unless sooner re¬ moved for cause by the Water Board.
Note — The Superintendent is the head of the Depart¬ ment, and is the principal supervisory officer. The Water Purveyor is subordinate to him, having desks in his office. The Register has his desk in the Comptroller’s office.
§ 21. The Superintendent shall have the immediate care of the water works, and shall be a practical and scien¬ tific engineer. He is hereby created the head of the Water Department.
§ 22. It shall be his duty once in every three months, personally to inspect the whole line of the works, and report the result in writing to the Water Board, tie shall appoint, with the assent of the Water Board, one or more suitable intendents, to reside at the several station houses, and assign to them their districts and duties, so that the whole line be daily inspected. There shall be a station house at the fol¬ lowing places : the dam; the weir, one mile and a half north of Sing Sing; the weir at Mill River, north of Tarrytown; the .river at Bolmars, two miles north of Yonkers; the weir at Tibbet’s Brook, four miles south of Yonkers ; the bridge at Harlaem River; the gates at Manhattan Talley; the re¬ ceiving reservoir, and the distributing reservoir.
§ 23. There shall be appointed by the Superintendent a Deputy, to assist him in his duties, upon whom the powers and duties of the Superintendent shall devolve whenever such Superintendent is unable to perform his duties; and it shall be lawful for such Superintendent to exact sureties from such Deputy against any neglect or un¬ faithfulness in the performance of such duties.
§ 24. The Superintendent is empowered to examine into the qualifications of all persons that may apply for a license to tap the pipes, &c., and to grant license for that purpose; keeping a register of all such persons licensed, and making
Doc. No. 80.]
626
a report thereof to the Water Board, who are empowered to cancel such licenses at any time.
§ 25. Whenever, in the opinion of the Superintendent, it shall become necessary or expedient to make any extraordi¬ nary repairs or improvements, it shall be his duty to cause accurate specifications to be made with an estimate in min¬ ute detail of the probable expense to be incurred, and to sub¬ mit the same to the Water Board for their action. All work to be done or services to be performed, shall be to the satis¬ faction of the Superintendent, and with his approval, before any payment shall be made therefor.
§ 26. The Superintendent shall keep his office in the Old Alms House Building, open from 9 to 4 P. M.
§ 27. The Water Purveyor shall be under the imme¬ diate direction of the Superintendent, and perform such other duties not herein provided as may be assigned to him by the Water Board or Superintendent.
§ 28. It shall be his duty to attend all fires that may happen in the city; to provide against all unnecessary waste of water, see that all hydrants are closed at the termination of each conflagration ; and for this purpose he shall have control of the Watch and Marshals attending. He shall re¬ port after each fire the names of the Marshals and Watch¬ men that assisted him, to the Common Council.
§ 29. The Register shall keep full and accurate ac¬ counts of the lettings of the water, and receive the rents for the same. He shall keep his accounts, make returns of the moneys collected, and adopt such mode of conducting his office as the Comptroller may direct.
§ 30. The applications must be in writing directed to the Register; all discontinuances must also be in writing ad¬ dressed to the Comptroller.
§ 31. The Register is required to file with the Comptroller, on the first day of May each year, a duplicate of all the rents payable on that day. It is the duty of the Comptroller to
627
[Doc, No. 80.
compare the same with his own books to correct any inac¬ curacy therein, and to notify the Register thereof if any are discovered.
§ 32. The supply shall be cut off in all cases where the rent is behind ten days.
§ 33. All persons contracting for a supply of water, shall at their own expense procure the materials and labor neces¬ sary to make the connexion with the conduit pipes, under the rules and regulations of the Water Board. No street shall be opened, nor pipes bored, or connexion made, unless under the direction of a licensed plumber, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each offence ; one-half for the use of the city, and one-half for the use of the Fire Department Fund.
§ 34. All licensed persons are forbid to open any street pavement, bore any water pipe, for the purpose of conduct¬ ing the water into any dwelling, or other edifice, under the penalty of fifty dollars for each offence, unless with the written permission of the Register, countersigned by the Comptroller and Superintendent, one-half of said penalty to go to the City Treasury, and one-half to the Fire Depart¬ ment Fund.
§ 35. All rents for the use of the water shall be paid in advance, at the time of applying to the Register for the wa¬ ter, and before any permit is issued, to be calculated up to the first day of May succeeding, and all rents shall continue to be collected in advance on the first day of May annually, so long as the contract exists.
§ 36. All rents and other emoluments which may accrue from the use and application of the water, shall, in the first instance, be applied to defray the interest on the water stock ; next to meet the expenses of the water works ; next to the redemption of the water stock ; and thereafter to any further improvements to the City of New York, or in aid of the taxes on its inhabitants.
DOCUMENT No. 81.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 18, 1842.
The following Message was received from his Honor the Mayor , setting forth his reasons for not approving the resolutions recommending the suspension of the work on the High Bridge over the Harlaem River , Spc., fyc., which was directed to be entered on the Minutes , and published in the papers employed by the Corpora¬ tion.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Mayor’s Office, April 6, 1842.
To the Board of Aldermen of the City of New York:
Gentlemen, — I herewith return to your Honorable Body the two following resolutions, which originated in your Board, with my reasons for not approving of them, viz. :
“ Resolved, That it is inexpedient to proceed further, at present, with the work upon the permanent bridge over the
Doc. No. 81.]
630
Harlaem River, beyond what may be necessary to bring the water temporarily across said river.
“ Resolved , That the Comptroller, the Counsel to the Corporation, and the Street Commissioner, be deputed to confer with the Water Commissioners, and to negotiate with the contractors, subject to the ratification of the Common Council, for a settlement of all damages which may be claimed to be by them sustained from the temporary or final suspension of the contract for the construction of the said bridge, and that they report to the Common Council as soon as possible the result of their labors.”
I will first present my objections to the first resolution. By reference to the Act entitled “ An Act to provide for sup¬ plying the City of New York with pure and wholesome water,” passed May 2, 1834, it will be seen that the whole construction of the work is given to the Water Commis¬ sioners, subject, in certain instances, to the approval of the Common Council.
The Act entitled “An Act prescribing the manner in which the Croton Aqueduct shall pass the Harlaem River,” passed May 3, 1839, is as follows :
“ The Water Commissioners of the City of New York shall construct an aqueduct over the Harlaem River, with arches and piers; the arches in the channel of said river shall be at least eighty feet span and not less than one hun¬ dred feet from the usual high water mark of the river to the under side of the arches at the crown ; or they may carry the water across said river by a tunnel under the channel of the river, the top of which tunnel shall not be above the present bed of the said channel.”
Under this statute the Water Commissioners made the contract to erect the high aqueduct across the Harlaem River, which these resolutions seek to suspend.
The 8th and 9th sections of the Act entitled “ An Act to
631
[Doc. No. 81.
amend 1 An Act to provide for supplying the City of New York with pure and wholesome water,’” passed May 26, 1841, are as follows :
“ § 8. It shall be the duty of the Water Commissioners of the City of New York, to finish and complete the aqueduct for supplying the said city with water, down to and includ¬ ing the distributing reservoir at Murray’s Hill, according to the plan adopted by the said Commissioners and ratified by the Common Council of the said City, with such immaterial alterations as may be necessary and as may be agreed upon by the said Water Commissioners and the said Common Council.
“ §9. The said Commissioners, by and with the consent of the said Common Council, shall have full power and autho¬ rity to change the plan of crossing the Harlaem River with arches and piers, and instead thereof to carry the water across the said river by means of inverted syphons of iron pipes, until otherwise directed by the Legislature, so as not unne¬ cessarily to interrupt the navigation of the said river. And the said Commissioners are further authorised, by and with the consent of the said Common Council, to alter the plan of constructing the reservoir at or near to Yorkville, and to complete so much of such reservoir as shall be deemed suf¬ ficient for thepresent purposes of such aqueduct.”
These statutes expressly preserve the navigable quality of the Harlaem River, and secure to the citizens living above the place where the aqueduct is to cross, the right and power to navigate said river.
All these statutes establish that the Water Commissioners are the power authorized to make and alter plans, subject however to the approval of the Common Council. The Commissioners must originate any alteration, and if the Com¬ mon Council concur the alteration will be legal, provided it does not violate the letter or spirit of the statute.
These laws, the plan and the contract under them, compel the erection of a high aqueduct over the Harlaem River, and
Doc. No. 81.]
632
any alteration of this plan to be legal must be recommended by the Water Commissioners, concurred in by the Common Council, and must not impair the navigation of the river.
These laws, by implication, give the right to interrupt the navigation of the Harlaem River, in such manner and for such period as the necessary work properly to build the aque¬ duct may cause, but in no other way and for no longer time.
The Act authorising the building of the aqueduct in the manner prescribed, gives no legal right to construct a tem¬ porary dam for the purpose of carrying the water across during the erection of the permanent work. If the embank¬ ment, over which the temporary pipes are to be laid, is ne¬ cessary to enable the proper construction of the aqueduct, there certainly can be no equitable objection to the use of such embankment to bring the water across during the erec¬ tion of the permanent work. Were it not that the dam, which has been made for the legal purpose of sinking and erecting the piers, can be used to bring the water to the city, the pe¬ cuniary and other interests of the city would prompt a speedy erection of the high aqueduct, and the interruption of the navigation would be for the shortest possible period, with the least detriment to the rights of others; and this would be in strict conformity to the law. This temporary dam and pipes made for the accommodation of the City of New York, can¬ not be used as a reason why the building of the aqueduct should either be discontinued, suspended, or protracted: or why the obstruction of the navigation should be continued beyond the period necessary to finish the permanent work. The fact that the temporary dam will answer the purpose of the City, is no reason why the law, which is intended to protect the rights and interests of others, should not be en¬ forced.
For the reason that the law of the State and the contract entered into under it, require the erection of a high aqueduct, and of necessity that it should be built in as short a period as is consistent with the proper construction of the work, so
633
[Doc. No. 81.
as not unnecessarily to interrupt the navigation of the river, and as the resolution to suspend the work is a voluntary vio¬ lation of that law, I am constrained to withhold my approval from it.
The objections made to the first resolution are applicable to the second, because the second resolution is only auxi¬ liary to the first. Even if we had the legal power to stop the work, I do not believe there would be a saving of money as stated in this report of your Committee. The only ppssi- ble saving to the city, if the work should hereafter be con¬ tinued, would be the difference between the premium which we should have to pay for monies borrowed now, and the lesser premium we might hereafter obtain it for, should money become more plenty.
The sum of $175,000 of interest mentioned by the Com¬ mittee which would be saved if the work was now sus¬ pended, would have to be expended at any time when the aqueduct should be built, as it is the amount of interest that would accrue on monies expended upon the aqueduct while erecting and before it could be used, which would be the same hereafter as now.
ROBT. H. MORRIS.
DOCUMENT No. 82.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 25, 1842.
Comtmmication from the Comptroller , in answer to re¬ solution relative to Thomas Lloyd, late Collector of the City Revenue. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Resolved, That the Comptroller report to this Board, at an early day and all convenient speed, the amount paid into the City Treasury by Thomas Lloyd, the late Collector of the City Revenue, during each quarter of the years 1839, 1840, 1841 and 1842 inclusive, up to the time of his ab¬ sconding; and also the amount of the City Revenue for each of said years ; together with the amount of security given by said Collector, with the names of the said sureties ; and that he further report when he first discovered that the late Collector had received any rents which he had not paid into the City Treasury.
Offered by the Alderman 15th Ward.
Doc. No. 82.]
636
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
Gentlemen — In compliance with the resolution offered and adopted on the 18th instant, I herewith submit a state¬ ment of the amounts paid into the City Treasury by Thomas Lloyd, late Collector, from the date of his appointment, to the period when he absconded ; and also the amount of the City Revenue for each quarter. The amount of the quarter’s revenue is estimated, in consequence of the charges being made yearly in the books of this office, some of the rents being payable quarterly, and some yearly.
A large part of the difference between the total of the charges and the total of the receipts, has been occasioned by charging the rent of five thousand seven hundred dollars for the “ timber basin” for two successive years, while no rent has been received from the same, and the lease has been sur¬ rendered to the city within a few weeks. There has also been $24,592 91 charged as “ Water Lot Rent” during the two past years, with but little expectation of realizing to the Treasury any revenue from it, owing to the legal diffi¬ culties attending their collection ; and there are also claims to the amount of $14,711 in the hands of the Counsel for collection.
The annexed contains only a statement of the amounts concerned with the Treasury proper. A corresponding state¬ ment relative to the Sinking Fund will be prepared with all despatch and submitted, if possible, at the next meeting of your Board.
In answer to that part of the resolution inquiring the names of the sureties and amount of the bond, I would re¬ spectfully state, that the amount of the bond is only fivethou- sand dollars; and is signed by Thomas Lloyd, Joseph D. Baldwin, John Y. Greenfield, James H. Houghtailin, Solomon Kipp, and Lewis B. Morrison.
While on this subject, I would respectfully call attention to
L
637
[Doc. No. 82.
the fact (already noticed by his Honor the Mayor,) that so small an amount of security is given, while a dishonest Col¬ lector has it in his power within the two first weeks of a quarter, to collect and decamp with near forty thousand dol¬ lars ; as the ordinances of the Corporation only require him to return an account every two weeks of the money collected by him.
With regard to the period when I “ first discovered that the late Collector had received any monies which were not paid into the Treasury,” I would state that the first time such fact came to my knowledge was abodt the fifteenth De¬ cember last, and the way it came cannot be explained better than by a statement in detail of the facts.
At the death of Mr. Bedient, in September, the ledger containing the accounts of the tenants was not so far posted as to enable the 'office to judge of the particular cases of the arrears of rent, he having been confined by his last sickness, and having spent some time in the country previous. The Common Council delayed appointing a successor to him un¬ til the first day of December. By the laws regulating the Finance Department, these books were under the exclusive management of the Deputy Comptroller; and their charac¬ ter is such, that it is absolutely necessary they should be ma¬ naged by one and the same hand, as well to prevent unau¬ thorized entries, as to avoid mistakes by misconception of charges growing out of the complex character of the city accounts.
Although desirous of remedying the inconvenience at¬ tending the delay, I did not feel at once authorized to employ another hand, and not until it was ascertained that the season had so far advanced that unless these books were immedi¬ ately attended to, the annual report could not be made with¬ in the time prescribed by the Charter, did I assume to put them in other hands than those directed by law.
By the middle of December they were so far posted as to show the state of the accounts, and then the rents were
Doc. No. 82.]
638
found considerably in arrears. Upon representation to Mr. Lloyd of the fact, he stated it was impossible to collect, even of those who had heretofore paid on demand. The same representations were at that time made by the tax col¬ lectors, who united in expressing their belief that the Corpo¬ ration would fail to realize the tax within the usual time; one-half of one per cent, was at that time offered by the Board of Supervisors to all tax collectors, on whatever amount they might collect previous to the 21st of December, provided it reached one-fifth of the amount of their book — this, except in a few cases, failed to secure an early return of the taxes.
At this time, without suspicion of the integrity of the Col¬ lector, letters were sent with my signature to some of the tenants largely in arrears, requesting them to pay up forthwith ; of their being sent the Collector had no knowledge; only one tenant made answer to me or my Clerks, and he stated he had paid up ; and when Lloyd was spoken to on the subject, he referred to his book, admitted he had received, and that he had omitted it, but would include it in his next return; he did so; his manner on this occasion, coupled with the fact that no others came with similar complaints, satisfied me he had inadvertently overlooked it. Subsequent inquiries have shown that tenants on receiving the notes, sought out the Collector and asked him why their rents were not re¬ turned ; he told them he made returns periodically, and that in their order they would be in the next return.
His collections after this period continued small, which he attributed to the depression of the times ; and although directed by me to collect by distress, he remonstrated against such an exercise of power, where the rents were perfectly secure. The financial difficulties of the city to be overcome before the fifteenth of February, caused me to be more than usually urgent with all returning officers, and to explore all sources of revenue ; and then the idea occurred to me of procuring the addition to the law which was subsequently passed ; at the same time, finding that the individual calls
639
[Doc. No. 82.
which the Collector must make, in order to collect the reve¬ nue promptly, were so numerous as to prevent that efficiency and promptness in his office which was desired, I suggested the sale of the water lot rents, and the passage of a law to authorize the Clerks of the Markets to collect all the market rents, and thus lighten the duty of the Collector.
After the first of February the collections returned, exhi¬ bited no improvement; and at this time his delinquencies remained undetected, by the accidental intervention of the Common Council. It is the custom of this office to prepare the yearly leases by the first of February, and to call the tenants to the office to execute them ; at which time, upon ex¬ hibiting their receipts for rent in full, they are entitled to a renewal. An application having been made, by several per¬ sons, for the cellars under Fulton Market, to the Market Committee, a resolution of inquiry was instituted in the Board of Aldermen, as to the propriety of instructing the Comptroller to lease all the market cellars at auction. Du¬ ring the pendency of this resolution, which was not dis¬ posed of until the seventeenth of March, the respect I owed that body, as well as the manifest propriety of the course, constrained me to withhold the usual notice to the tenants; otherwise the exposure of Lloyd would have taken place early in February, and before he had secured so large a portion of the February rents.
Business of the Corporation required my presence at Al¬ bany on the twenty-fourth of March, and when I returned, on the twenty-eighth, I found a letter, bearing the' post office stamp of that day, written by Thomas Lloyd, stating that he had abandoned his office because he could not then comply with the provisions required by the new ordinances ; having lent a portion of the city funds to his friends, which would take hinx some time to collect ; protesting in this matter, that the city or his securities should not, in the end, lose any thing by him.
A most extraordinary fortune seems to have sheltered him
Doc. No. 82.] -640
from discovery. The sickness and death of Mr. Bedient — the time that elapsed before the vacancy was filled — the fact that the tenants on receiving my letters went to him for ex¬ planations instead of me — and the accidental intervention of the Common Council on the question of the market cellars, all favored him. Had either one of these events not oc¬ curred, the chance is his defalcations would have been light, if any; inasmuch as far the largest part of them are on the quarter to February first.
Respectfully communicated.
ALFRED A. SMITH, Comptroller.
TREASURY ACCOUNT.
Amount of Rents returned , per Thomas Lloyd , in
3 months ending Sept. 30, 1839, $30,994 76
Dec. 31, “ 25,365 06
Mar. 30, 1840, $29,636 80
June 30, “ 29,923 24
Sept. 30, « 33,861 96
Dec. 31, “ 38,385 59
$ 56,359 82
Mar. 30, 1841, $24,809 01
June 30, “ 40,587 56
Sept. 30, “ 25,417 87
Dec. 31, “ 22,730 91
131,807 59
- - 113,545 35
Mar. 4, 1842, $13,276 86 13,276 86
$314,989 62
641
[Doc. No. 82.
Estimate of Revenue for corresponding Periods.
For 3 months end’g Sept. 30, 1839, $35,068 37 3 “ “ Dec. 31, “ 35,068 37
3 “ « Mar. 31, 1840, 35,068 37
3 “ « June 30, “ 46,544 67
3 “ “ Sept. 30, “ 37,277 67
3 “ « Dec. 31, “ 37,277 67
3 “ « Mar. 31, 1841, 37,277 67
3 « “ June 30, “ 60,394 39
3 “ « Sept. 30, “ 39,486 87
3 « « Dec. 31, “ 39,486 87
2 « « Mar. 4, 1842, 39,486 87
- $432,437 79
Correct, from books of Comptroller’s office. John J. Serrell, Clerk.
DOCUMENT No. 83.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 18, 1842.
An Act respecting the Collection of Taxes in the City and County of New York , passed April 11, 1842. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
AN ACT
RESPECTING THE COLLECTION OP TAXES IN THE CITY AND COUNTY OP NEW YORK.
[Passed April 11, 1842.]
The People of the State of New York , represented in Senate and Assembly , do enact as follows :
§ 1. The Assessors annually chosen in each ward of the City of New York shall, on or before the fifth day of June next, after being chosen, proceed to assess the property in
Doc. No. 83.]
644
their respective wards according to law, and shall complete their assessment according to law, on or before the fifteenth day of August next following, and make out one fair copy thereof, to be left with one of their number, on or before the twentieth day of August next following; and shall there¬ upon, according to law, give notice of having completed such assessment, and that a copy thereof is left with one of such Assessors, (naming him,) where the same may be seen and examined by any of the inhabitants, from the said twen¬ tieth day of August to the tenth day of September follow¬ ing, both inclusive ; that they will meet at the expiration of the said tenth day of September, at a place in the said no¬ tice to be specified, to review their assessment on the appli¬ cation of any person conceiving himself aggrieved, and such proceedings shall thereupon take place as is by law provided. And such Assessors shall sign the said assessment roll, and deliver the same, on or before the twentieth day of Septem¬ ber next ensuing, to the Comptroller of the said City, who shall deliver the same to the Supervisors of the said City, at their next meeting; and that for any neglect, omission, or refusal to perform the requirements of this section, the parties offending shall be liable to the penalties mentioned in the eleventh section of the Act of April twenty-third, eighteen hundred and twenty-three, entitled “ An Act for the assessment and collection of taxes.”
§ 2. The first section of the Act entitled “ An Act autho¬ rizing a per centage to be added to unpaid taxes in the City of New York,” passed April thirteen, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five, is hereby amended so that the said section shall read as follows : Whenever any tax of any de¬ scription of the estates, real or personal, of the freeholders and inhabitants of, and situated in, the City of New York, shall remain unpaid on the first day of February next en¬ suing, the time prescribed by law for the delivery of the as¬ sessment roll to the Collectors in the said city, it shall be lawful for the Collectors, whose duty it may be to collect
645
[Doc. No. 83.
such tax, to charge, receive and collect, in addition to the amount (Jf such tax, one per cent, on the amount thereof; and to charge, receive and collect upon such tax, so remain¬ ing unpaid on the last day of each month, between the month of November and the time prescribed by law for the Collectors in the said city to make their returns to the Cham¬ berlain or Treasurer thereof, a further addition or increase of one per cent, upon the amount of such tax; and such increase or per centage shall be paid over, and accounted for by such Collector, as a part of the tax collected by him.
§ 3. The Act entitled “ An Act to amend the Acts respect¬ ing the collection of taxes in the City of New York,” passed April three, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-nine, is hereby repealed.
§ 4. Any person who may be desirous of paying his tax or taxes previous to the first of February, shall, on pay¬ ing the amount thereof to the Comptroller of the City of New York, be allowed a deduction therefrom at the rate of six per cent, per annum.
State of New York, ?
Secretary's Office. )
I have compared the preceding with an original Act of the Legislature of this State, on file in this office, and do certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom and of the whole of said original, (the words “ and shall complete their assessments according to law” interlined.)
S. YOUNG, Secretary of State.
Albany , April 13, 1842.
DOCUMENT No. 84.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 10, 1842.
Report of the Comptroller , on the Accounts of the Cham¬ berlain, for the quarter ending May 1, A. D. 1842, with a full statement of the Funds of the Corporation , its Re¬ ceipts and Expenditures , up to the ninth day of May. Laid on the table and ordered to be printed.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Comptroller’s Office, ) May 9th, 1842. \
To the Honorable the Board of Aldermen :
The accounts of the Chamberlain for the quarter ending 30th of April last, have been received and examined with the vouchers in this office. They have been found correct. Copies of the accounts current and certificate of the Cashier of the Treasury Bank, duly authenticated, are appended hereto.
The balance in the Treasury on that day, was as follows :
Doc. No. 84.]
648
In the General Fund . $100,340 63
In the Sinking Fund . . . 4,699 99
In the Special Fund . 4,944 02
$109,984 64
The Comptroller avails himself of this occasion to pre¬ sent a full statement of the condition of the City Debt, and of the Funds of the Corporation, as existing on the morning of the date hereof; together with the receipts and expendi¬ tures up to that time, from the 1st day of January last. In addition to the balances above reported to be in the Trea¬ sury on the 1st instant, there have been received by the Treasurer, up to, and including, the 7th instant, the several amounts as follows :
In the General Fund . $388,293 40
In the Sinking Fund . 10,564 08
In the Special Fund . 2,120 00
The entire cash means of the Corporation, since the 1st of January, have amounted to $2,346,627 44.
The public confidence, so long reposed in the resources of the city, and in the faith of its citizens, continues firm. Estimates have been received from both the Water and Aqueduct Commissioners, which are annexed hereto, afford¬ ing the gratifying information, that the further sums required for the aqueduct will amount to but four hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Of this amount the Comp¬ troller has already negotiated for two-thirds, and confidently believes that the inconsiderable balance remaining to be ne¬ gotiated, will be subscribed for without effort on his part, and long before it will be required to be expended ; the want of funds, therefore, can be no obstacle in the way of the early completion of the aqueduct.
In the course of the year preceding, the Comptroller, to a
649
[Doc. No. 84.
limited extent, issued the temporary obligations of the city to procure means for the aqueduct. He resorted to this po¬ licy rather than to that of more permanent loans, with the view of securing to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund all the permanent Water Stock that should afterwards be issued in place of such temporary loans. For this purpose some progress has been made for rendering available the mortgages and other securities held by the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. A large amount from this source will be realized before January next, and invested in the permanent Water Stock substituted for the temporary loans; making thereby, to the extent of such investment, a nomi¬ nal debt. The co-operation of the Common Council was confidently anticipated to assist the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund in this object, by causing some portion of their real estate, and all their quit rents to be sold.
It is desirable that as much money shall be raised within this year, from these sources and for this object, as possible; and the Comptroller does now most respectfully but zea¬ lously urge the passage of a resolution by the present Com¬ mon Council , to authorize the sale of the Corporation inte¬ rests in all their quit rent property at auction, under the di¬ rection of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund.
Whatever may be the amount which the Commissioners may find themselves able in this way to invest, the balance of the temporary loans, if any, can be met, either by renew¬ als for short periods, or by at once funding the amount; the authority for either of which has been already granted by the Common Council.
The financial transactions of the city, since it commenced building the Croton Aqueduct, have been greater than those of many of the States, and perhaps have been exceeded by none. A period of financial difficulty and vicissitude, more unfortunate than that during which this work has been erec¬ ting, could not have been selected since the Union was esta¬ blished; and yet the Corporation, with an expenditure ave-
Doc. No. 84.]
650
raging one-half a million of dollars per month, has passed onward without discouragement, and maintained its credit unimpaired.
To have built a work at so vast a cost, and without em¬ barrassment or sacrifices, even in ordinary times, would have entitled the Corporation to deserved renown; but to have persevered for six years, during a period of such panic and distrust as have every where prevailed, without pause, self-sustained in spite of obstacles which seem to have bro¬ ken down the credit of nations, is to have erected for itself a monument of its spirit, its resources, its stable faith and successful enterprize, which may triumphantly challenge all annals for a parallel.
Interesting as the fiscal condition of the city must at all times be to its representatives, it will be enhanced at this time by the knowledge that all the engagements of the Cor¬ poration for the municipal year now closing, have been met, and that there not only exists no demand, deferred or de¬ layed, but the year will close with an abounding Treasury.
CITY DEBT, MAY 7, 1842.
New York City Fives, of 1820 and 1829 ... $ 500,000 00
Public Building Stock . , . 515,000 00
Fire Loan Stock . 525,000 00
Fire Indemnity Stock . 358,900 00
Floating Debt Stock . 300,000 00
Assessment and other temporary Bonds .... 397,500 00
Water Stock Fives of 1858, 1860, 1870 and
1880 . 8,721,500 00
Water Stock Sixes, from 1 to 3 years . 1,525,502 00
Water Stock Sevens, 5, 10 and 15 years . . . 591,560 00
$13,434 962 00
Less by amount of the same Stocks held by
the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund 898,522 00
Carried forward, Total City Debt ... $12,536,440 00
651 [Doc. No. 84.
Brought forward, Total City Debt .... $12,536,440 00 By the revised estimates of the Water and Croton Aqueduct Commissioners, as re¬ turned to this office the 5th instant, the further debt to be created to secure the introduction of water at the early period contemplated (July 4) is only . 475,000 00
This amount, added to the present debt, will make the City Debt, August 1, 1842, the period when it will have arrived at its maximum . $13,011,440 00
WATER DEBT, MAY 8, 1842.
The items composing the present Water Debt are temporary Bonds above, equal to the Treasury advance to the Water
Fund . $ 54,757 30
Water Stock Fives, above . 8,721,500 00
“ “ Sixes, above . 1,525,502 00
“ « Sevens, above . 591,560 00
Total Water Debt, May 7, 1842 . $10,893,319 30
To be increased by August 1, 1842 . 475,000 00
Maximum Water Debt August 1, 1842 $11,368,319 30 Being less than the limit by the State Le¬ gislature by . 631,680 70
Total Water Stock authorized by the State $12,000,000 00
PRODUCE OF THE WATER STOCK, — THE WATER FUND.
The Five per Cents., issued for 18, 20, 30 and 40 years, produced to the City Trea-
Doc. No. 84.]
652
sury the nett sum of
$8,185,842 68
(This sale yielded $93 95| for each $100 of stock, being at the rate of $5 57 per cent., or a fraction over 5^ per cent, interest on par stock.)
The Six per Cent. Water Stocks, issued for 1, 2 and 3 years, were sold at par, pro¬ ducing the nett sum of . 1,525,502 00
The Seven per Cent. Water Loan, issued for 5, 10 and 15 years, was subscribed for at par, producing the nett sum of . 591,560 00
Total produce of the Water Stocks .. . $10,302,904 6S There have been other receipts into the Water Fund as follows :
For rent of land . . . $3,256 72
For sale of old pipes . . 2,56S 37
$5,825 09
From which is to be deducted, however, the amount paid for specie to pay interest on the Water Loan during the banks’ suspension . .
2,831 18
2,993 91
$10,305,898 59
PAYMENTS FOR THE ACIUEDUCT — FROM THE WATER FUND.
Payments through the Water Commissioners . :
$7,484,378 52
Payments through the Com¬ mittees of the Common Council and former Water Purveyor .
1,462,491 44
Amounts carried forward . . $8,946,869 96 $10,305,898 59
653 [Doc. No. 84.
Amounts brought forward . . $8,946,869 96 $10,305,898 59 Payments through the Cham¬ berlain for interest . 1,404,722 90
Payments for contingent ex¬ penses . . . . 9,063 03
Total payments to May 8, 1842 . 10,360,655 89
Debt of the Water Fund to the Treasury $ 54,757 30
SPECIAL FUND.
Balance on hand January 1, 1842 . $12,170 55
Interest and rents received to May 8, 1842 8,032 63
Total . $20,203 18
Paid for February interest on
the Fire Loan . . . $13,125 00
Paid for insurance of buildings 4 16
Paid for expenses of foreclosure 10 00
1 Q 1 QQ 1 A
Balance on hand May 8, 1842 . $ 7,064 02
SINKING FUND.
Balance in bank January 1, 1842 . $ 2,761 49
Received from bonds and mortgages . 2,500 00
“ “ commutation of water lot
rent . . . 4,532 19
Received from tax for Floating Debt Stock 18,210 00
“ “ interest on Stocks . 12,935 49
“ “ licenses . 485 00
“ “ market cellars . 2,353 25
« “ market fees . 5,490 86
“ “ street vault permits . . 195 80
Amount carried over . $49,464 08
Doc. No. 84.]
654
Amount brought over . . $49,464 08
Received from sales of Water Stock . 12,560 91
“ “ ground and house rent .... 225 00
“ “ fire loan bond and mortgages 33,450 00
Paid out for investments in, and cancella- ’
tion of stocks of the city, to May 1, 1842 91,000 00
Balance in bank, May 1, 1842 . $ 4,699 99
Receipts from May 1 to May 8, 1842 . 10,564 08
$15,264 07
Less investments from May 1 to May 8 . . . . 11,000 00
Balance in bank May 8, 1842 . $ 4,264 07
GENERAL FUND.
Receipts from, January 1 , 1842, to May 1, 1842.
Balance in bank January 1, 1842 . $ 52,572 03
Tax— From tax of 1841 . 1,022,339 90
Interest on do . 474 19
Arrears of taxes . 12 174 78
Interest on do . 4 922 96
Assessments — Streets opening and widening 39,308 83
Interest on do. . 5^38 97
Charges on arrears of assessments . . 542 97
Fencing lots . 513 18
Liens on lots . 2 914 71
Streets, regulating and paving ..... 17,691 79
Wells and pumps . ^218 94
Docks and slips . . 1,863 38
Interest . 5,892 81
Amount carried forward . $1,167,769 44
655
[Doc. No. 84.
Amount brought forward .
Loans — Water Loan, Fives . . . . .
Temporary Water Loan, Sixes ....
Water Loan, Sevens .
Miscellaneous — Alms House . . $2,525 78 Foreign poor . 5,000 00
Commutation of aliens .
Courts . $1,408 44
Justices’ Courts . 1,527 72
Police . 853 24
Cleaning streets . .
Mayoralty fees . $190 00
Watch . 1 00
Penalties . . Real estate Rents
Receipts from May 1 to May 8, 1842
GENERAL FUND EXPENDITURES, FROM JA
may 8, 1842.
Redemption of Debt — Floating Debt Stock Assessment and other temporary
bonds . .
Interest on water loans .
Interest on stocks . . .
Trust Accounts — Interest .
Charges on arrears of assessments Wells and pumps .
Amount carried over .
2
$1,167,769 44 90,000 00 160,981 00 366,421 00
7,525 78 216 00
3,789 40 8,081 08
191 00 584 65 4,276 08 22,031 36
$1,831,866 79 388,293 40
$2,220,160 19 n. 1, 1842, to
$ 50,000 00
513.447 00 254,343 51 44,024 21 30,386 02 278 88 442 65
$892,922 27
Doc. No. 84.] 65 6
Amount brought over . $892,922 27
Trust Accounts —
Streets, regulating and paving . 37,138 41
Streets, opening and widening .... 3,891 21
Liens on lots . 380 50
Fencing lots . . 1,080 69
Water Joan expenses . . 1,035 25
Water pipes . 185,515 24
Water Commissioners . 331,001 19
Cleaning docks and slips . 13 48
Docks and slips . 236 10
Improvements — Docks and slips . 22,970 87
Lunatic Asylum . 5,013 06
Real estate assessments . 4,303 35
Roads and avenues . . 3,750 00
Street expenses . 10,074 24
Repairs and supplies . 13,250 59
Charities — Alms House . 80,000 00
Special Charities . 1,075 00
Public schools . 715 00
House of Refuge . 0 00
Courts — County Courts . 19,149 73
Ward Courts . 6,500 00
Coroner’s fees . 2,213 24
Police . 20,697 61
Watch . 80,226 21
Penalties . 1,500 00
Intestate estates . 625 00
Board of Health . 2,138 91
Cleaning streets . 44,838 59
Markets . 4,565 28
Lands and places . 2,906 00
Lamps and gas . 46,140 22
Amount carried forward . $1,825,868 24
657
[Doc. No. 84.
Amount brought forward . $1,825,868 24
Fire Department . 15,523 87
Public reservoir . 8,305 47
Salaries . 26,593 52
Printing and stationery . 5,281 41
Contingencies . 9,805 85
Charges on arrears of taxes . 320 75
Elections . 601 86
Errors and delinquencies . 687 08
Levying tax . 3,620 12
$1,896,608 17
All which is respectfully presented.
ALFRED A. SMITH,
Comptroller.
Doc. 84.]
658
Probable amount of Funds wanted for Croton Aqueduct , during and including
May — Estimate on unfinished contracts . $75,000
Balance on completed contracts . 46,000
Incidentals and pipe account, and Engineers 7,000
$128,000
June — Estimate on unfinished contracts $80,000 Balance on completed do. 12,000
Incidentals and pipe account, and
repairs and Engineers . 7,000
- 99,000
July — Estimate on unfinished contracts $35,000 Balance on completed do... 105,000
Incidentals and pipe account, and
repairs and Engineers . 8,000 — 148,000
$375,000
Probably $400,000 will pay all requisitions through July.
j Estimate of expenses of the Croton Aqueduct Department for five requisitions, commencing May 18, 1842, and end¬ ing July 14, 1842.
May 18 — Requisition.
Labor and cartage . . $ 1,850
Pipes . 53,527
Stop-cocks and lead . 3,350
Tools . 140
Fuel, timber and incidental ex¬ penses . 200
Trenches . 1,560
Carried forward . .
$60,627
659
[Doc. 84. $ 60,627
Brought forward .
June 1 — Requisition.
Labor and cartage . $ 1,850
Pipes . 6,167
Stop-cocks and lead . 3,560
Tools . 140
Fuel, timber and incidentals... 200
Trenches . 1,720 —
$13,637
June 15 — Requisition.
Labor and cartage . * . $ 1,850
Pipes . * . 6,366
Lead . 1,000
Tools . I40
Fuel, timber, &c . 200
Trenches . 1,665
June 30 — Requisition.
Labor and cartage . 1,850
Pipes . 3,000
Lead... . 1,000
Fuel, timber, &c . 200
Tools . 110
Trenches . 1,562
July 14 — Requisition.
Labor and cartage . $1,850
Pipes . 3,000
Lead . I,000
Fuel, &c . 200
Tools . I40
Trenches . 090
11,221
7,752
6,880
$ 100,117
Doc. No. 84.]
660
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661
[Doc. No. 84.
Comptroller’s Office, )
2d May , 1842. \
1 do certify that I have carefully compared the aforegoing quarterly account current of the City Treasurer with the appropriate books and vouchers of this office, and find it in all respects correct.
P. A. YOUNG,
Deputy Comptroller.
Bank of the State of New York, i May 4th, 1842. \
I hereby certify that after the close of business on Saturday last, (April 30th,) the balances herein named were standing on the books of this Bank to the credit of the following ac¬ counts, viz: to the credit of the “City Treasurer” one hun¬ dred thousand, three hundred and forty dollars sixty-three cents ($100,340 63); to the credit of the “ Commissioners of the Sinking Fund” four thousand six hundred and ninety- nine dollars ninety-nine cents ($4,699 99); and to the credit of “ Interest on Fire Loan belonging to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund” four thousand nine hundred and forty-four dollars two cents ($4,944 02.)
(Signed) R. WITHERS, Cashier.
I certify that the aforegoing is a true copy of the original certificate on file in this office.
P. A. YOUNG,
May 2d, 1842. Deputy Comptroller.
RETURNS OF ELECTION,
Held April 12 Ih, 1842.
.
DOCUMENT No. 85.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 25, 1842.
Election Returns of Election held twelfth April , 1842. Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
Clerk's Ofiice, /
City and County of New York , ss. $
It is hereby certified that the following is a correct return of the officers elected in the City of New York, at an elec¬ tion held therein on the twelfth day of April, 1842, as ap¬ pears by the official returns on file in my office, viz. :
Robert H. Morris, Mayor of the City of New York.
FIRST WARD.
Calvin Balis . Alderman.
Harman C. Westervelt . Assistant Alderman.
Otto W. Yan Tuyl . ? Assessors.
Garret Yan Zandt
Oliver Cobb .
Collector.
Doc. No. 85.]
666
George Fisby Robert Silvey
Constables.
SECOND WARD.
Caleb S. Woodhull . .
George F. Nesbit .
Samuel Gilford, jun . )
Elam Williams . ^
Edward T. Backhouse Alfred Roach ........
John Wintringham . . .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
THIRD WARD.
John A. Underwood William Dodge . . . .
Asa Hall . .
Thomas C. Barline
Philip Pietch .
Yarnum S. Mills ,. John S. Jenkins . . .
, Alderman.
. Assistant Alderman. Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
FOURTH WARD.
|
Robert Martin . |
|
|
David T. Williams . |
|
|
James Avery . , . . . Jacob F. Oakley . |
| Assessors. |
|
Edward B. Fellows . |
|
|
Samuel Bushnell . |
|
|
Emanuel Joseph . |
> Constables. |
|
FIFTH |
WARD. |
|
Robert Jones . |
|
|
William Adams . |
|
|
Richard Ten Eyck . |
... ? A |
|
Elijah P. Horton . |
t Assessors. |
|
Lewis Katen . |
|
|
Joseph Jenkins . |
|
|
John Beam . |
| Constables. |
667
[Doc. No. 85.
SIXTH WARD.
See return of Inspectors annexed hereto.
SEVENTH WARD.
Charles W. Smith James Nash . . . . David Lyon . . . . Charles F. Way . John Robins . . . .
John Davis .
Samuel Jones . . .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
EIGHTH WARD.
David. Yandervoort . . . Charles P. Brown . . . .
William T. Cox .
Gustavus A. Goodrich James G. Moffet . . . . David M. E. Wood . . Elias D. Brower .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
NINTH WARD.
Moses G. Leonard .
William D. Waterman .
John W. Christie . .
Jonathan O. Wickes .
Ephraim Scudder . , . . . .
Benjamin D. Wisner .......
Peter Westervelt .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman. Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
TENTH WARD.
Elijah F. Purdy . Alderman.
Daniel Ward .
John Corey .
Ananias Matthews Thomas D. Howe . Samuel Trenchard Bernard Marren . . ,
Assistant Alderman. Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
Doc. No. 85.]
668
ELEVENTH WARD.
Abraham Hatfield . Charles J. Dodge .
David Ayers .
Samuel B. Peeney James Waring Azel Freeman . . . . Enoch Lawrence .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
TWELFTH WARD.
See return of Inspectors annexed hereto.
|
THIRTEENTH |
WARD. |
|
Hezekiah W. Bonnel . |
. . Alderman. |
|
Peter Esquirol . |
. . Assistant Alderman. |
|
Joseph Gillespie, sen . . |
^ Assessors. |
|
Edward Donnelly . |
|
|
Thomas J. Gildersleeve - |
. . Collector. |
|
Aaron T. Hans . |
^ Constables. |
|
William W. Fream . |
|
|
FOURTEENTH WARD. |
|
|
John B. Scoles . . |
|
|
Daniel Ebbets . |
i Assessors. |
|
Thomas Raven . |
$ |
|
Nelson Sammis . |
|
|
Elhanan Martin . |
^ Constables. |
|
Nathaniel Finch . |
|
|
FIFTEENTH |
WARD. |
|
Henry E. Dcivies •••« •••• * « |
|
|
William T. Brady . |
|
|
Martin E. Thompson . |
| Assessors. |
|
Edward Gray . |
|
|
Joseph Britton . |
|
|
Samuel Young . |
' l Constables. |
|
James Hastin, jun. . |
669
[Doc. No. 85.
SIXTEENTH WARD.
Edward D. West .
Walter Mead . .
Benjamin Harker . ?
Samuel Beilby . $
Robert B. Ruggles William Chapman Wanton Barney . .
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Assessors.
Collector.
Constables.
SEVENTEENTH WARD.
Frederick R. Lee . . .
John Pettigrew .
Henry Palmer .
George Brown .
Orville J. Nash .
Benjamin F. Gamble Henry D. Loomis ..
Alderman.
Assistant Alderman.
Aesssors.
Collector.
Constables.
In testimony whereof, I have hereto subscribed my name, and affixed the seal of the Court of Common Pleas for the City and County of New York, this 23d day of April, A. D., 1842.
NATH. JARVIS, Clerk.
We, the undersigned, Inspectors of Election for the seve¬ ral districts of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, de¬ puted according to law, to add together and compute the vote given to each person voted for in the several districts of said ward, and to make a return of the same in the manner re¬ quired by law, do certify that we have received returns from the several districts of the said ward for the election duly held in said ward, on the twelfth day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, for the election of Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and
Doc. No. 85.]
670
Constables, copies of which returns, certified by us, are here¬ unto annexed.
And we, the said Inspectors, do further certify, that it is impossible for us to declare what persons were, by the great¬ est number of votes at the election aforesaid, elected to either of the said offices of Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Asses¬ sors, Collector, or Constables of the said ward, by reason of the lawless violence committed upon the Inspectors of the First district of the said ward whilst in the act of counting the ballots taken therein, and the dispersion of the said bal¬ lots before they were counted, the history of which is con¬ tained in the return of the said Inspectors, a copy whereof is annexed.
In witness whereof, we have subscribed our names this 14th day of-April, in the year 1842.
JAMES STEWART,
PATRICK H. O’NEIL AARON CLARK,
W. SINCLAIR, Jr.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the First district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the fol¬ lowing is a correct statement of the votes given in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York:
The whole number of votes given was four hundred and eight, of which Robert H. Morris received two hundred and twenty-eight votes, J. Phillips Phoenix received one hundred and seventy-six votes, Thomas F. Field received two votes, Isaac L. Yarian received one vote, and Blank one vote.
And we do further certify, that the poll for the said district, and for the said election, was held at the house of James Dunn, at the corner of Centre and Duane streets, and after the poll was closed we took the ballot boxes up stairs to a front room, in the corner of said building, in order to count the votes taken in the said district, and had proceeded and compared the poll lists and ballots and corrected the same
671
[Doc. No. 85.
according to law, and had also counted and reduced to writ¬ ing the result of the election in the said district for the office of Mayor, which was as above stated. That we then pro¬ ceeded to count the ballots cast for the office of Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Constables, for the said ward, and after opening the ballot box and turning the tickets out upon the table we counted the number of bal¬ lots, and after finding that the number corresponded with the poll list, we proceeded to open the ballots and to count said ballots, when suddenly, and without any previous notice, the said room was assailed from without, by missiles of various descriptions, brick-bats, stones, &c.3 the windows were broken in, and great numbers of persons were collected together on the outside, and many inside of the said house; that the at¬ tack upon the said room was so violent and outrageous, and the missiles came into the room so thick and fast that our lives were imminently jeopardized, and we in consternation fled from the said room, and two of us escaping through the rear of said house, and the other seeking refuge and secret¬ ing himself in the upper part of said house, leaving the bal¬ lots so cast, upon the table in the said room, and after an absence of about half an hour we returned to the said room, and found a number of ballots, some upon the table, and some upon the floor, all in such a condition that it was im¬ possible for us to tell whether or not they were the whole or any part of the ballots, in fact, cast at the said election in the said district; we are therefore unable, for the reasons afore¬ said, to make any other return in relation to the number of votes taken in the said district, for the said offices of Aider- man, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Consta¬ bles.
In witness whereof, we have subscribed our names this 14th day of April, in the year 1842.
W. SINCLAIR, Jr.
WILLIAM LYONS,
Inspectors of Election , First District , Sixth Ward.
2
Doc. No. 85.]
672
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Second district of the Sixth ward of the City ol New York, do certify, that the following is a correct statement of the votes given for each candidate voted for in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and forty-five, of which Robert H. Morris received two hundred and sixty votes, and J. Phillips Phoe¬ nix received one hundred and eighty-five votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man, was four hundred and thirty-six votes, of which Clark¬ son Crolius, Jr., received one hundred and eighty-nine votes, William Shaler received one hundred and seventy-seven votes, and James Ferris seventy votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman, was four hundred and thirty-three, of which Richard H. Atwell received one hundred and eighty-seven votes, Daniel M. Hogan received one hundred and sixty- seven votes, Thomas S. Henry received seventy-seven votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was eight hundred and sixty-three, of which Samuel Roome received one hundred and ninety-one votes, John Heath received one hundred and eighty-seven votes, Michael Hanavan received one hundred and sixty-five votes, James Maguire received one hundred and sixty-four votes, Shivers Parker received seventy-four votes, Edward J. M’Gloin re¬ ceived seventy-nine votes, Charles Del Vecchio received one vote, William H. Sparks received one vote, and Edward Bunnell received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Col¬ lector, was four hundred and thirty-four votes, of which Owen W. Brennan received one hundred and ninety-nine votes, James O’Neil received one hundred and fifty-eight votes, Andrew Connolly received seventy-six votes, and William B. Willis received one vote.
673
[Doc. No. 85.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Con¬ stable, was eight hundred apd fifty-eight, of which Philan¬ der Fisk received one hundred and ninety votes, Martin T. Waters received one hundred and ninety-one votes, Patrick* Burns received one hundred and sixty-five votes, William A. Brown received one hundred and sixty-eight votes, Wil¬ liam D. Scally received seventy-three votes, William Nealis received seventy votes, and John Bennett received one vote.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this thirteenth day of April, in the year 1842.
JOS. P. PIRSSON, 1 Inspectors AARON CLARK, } of
MATTHEW MURRAY, ) Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the Second district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute Aaron Clark one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of 12 o’clock at noon and 1 o’clock in the afternoon, and have de¬ livered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each Candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the thirteenth day of April, 1842.
JOS. P. PIRSSON. I Inspectors of MATTHEW MURRAY, $ Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Third district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the fol¬ lowing is a correct statement of the votes given for each can- didate%oted for in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New
Doc. No. 85.]
674
York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was five hundred and eighty-three, of which J. Phillips Phoe¬ nix received one hundred and twenty-four, Robert H. Morris v received four hundred and fifty-eight, James Monroe receiv¬ ed one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Alder¬ man, was five hundred and sixty-eight, of which William Shaler received one hundred and twenty-nine, James Ferris received three hundred and four, Clarkson Crolius, Jr. re¬ ceived one hundred and thirty five.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman, was five hundred and sixty-five, of which Daniel, M. Hogan received one hundred and twenty-two, Thomas S. Henry received three hundred and eight, Rich¬ ard H. Atwell received one hundred and thirty-five.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was eleven hundred and thirty-one, of which James McGuire received one hundred and twenty-one, Michael Hanavan received one hundred and twenty-three, Edward J. McGloin received three hundred and seven, Shivers Parker received three hundred and seven, Samuel Roome received one hundred and thirty-seven, John Heath received one hun¬ dred and thirty-five, and Andrew Connolly received one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor, was five hundred and sixty-two, of which James O’Neil received one hundred and twenty, Andrew Connolly receiv¬ ed two hundred and ninety-nine, Owen W. Brennan receiv¬ ed one hundred and forty, John Carland received one, W. Nealis received one, and George Mills received one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble, was eleven hundred and twenty-one, of which Patrick Burns received one hundred and twenty-four, William A. Brown received one hundred and eighteen, William Nealis received three hundred and four, William D. Scally received
.
675
[Doc. No. 85.
three hundred and two, Philander Fisk received one hun¬ dred and thirty-eight, Martin T. Waters received one hun¬ dred and thirty-four, and Pat’s Busy received one, Blank re¬ ceived three.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 12th day of April, in the year 1842.
PATRICK H. O’NEIL. ) Inspectors MICHAEL HANAVAN, [ of LESTER WILSON, ) Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the Third district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute Pa¬ trick H. O’Neil, one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each Candidate voted for in said District, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the twelfth day of April, 1842.
MICHAEL HANAVAN, ) Inspectors.
LESTER WILSON, \ of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Fourth district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the following is a correct statement of the votes given for each candidate voted for in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and sixty-five, of which Robert H. Morris received two hundred and thirty-six, J. Phillips Phoenix two hundred and twenty-eight, and Thomas F, Field one vote.
Doc. ATo. 85.]
676
The whole number of votes given for tho office of Aider- man, was four hundred and thirty-eight, of which Clarkson Crolius, Jun. received two hundred and thirty-seven, James Ferris one hundred and twenty, and William Shaler eighty- one votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assis¬ tant Alderman, was four hundred and thirty, of which Rich¬ ard H. Atwell received two hundred and thirty-four, Thomas S. Henry one hundred and nineteen, Daniel M. Hogan se¬ venty-five, George E. Alvord one, and P. S. Brady one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was eight hundred and sixty-seven, of which Samuel Roome received two hundred and thirty-five, John Heath two hundred and thirty-five, Shivers Parker ohe hundred and twenty-two, Edward J. McGloin one hundred and twenty, Michael Hanavan eighty, James Maguire seventy-five votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor, was four hundred and twenty-three, of which Owen W. Brennan received two hundred and thirty-one, Andrew Con¬ nolly one hundred and sixteen, James O’Neil seventy-six votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble, was eight hundred and fifty-six, of which Philander Fisk received two hundred and thirty-four, Martin T. Wal¬ ters two hundred and twenty-five, William D. Scally one hundred and twenty-five, William Nealis one hundred and twenty-one, Patrick Burns seventy-five, William A. Brown seventy-five, and John Crowley one vote.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this 12th day of April, in the year 1842.
JAMES STEWART, ) Inspectors JOHN McGRATH, \ of JOHN P. WARE, ) Election .
We the Inspectors of Election of the Fourth district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute James
677 [Doc. No. 85.
Stewart one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each Candidate voted for in said district, on the 12th day of April, 1842.
Dated the 12th day of April, 1842.
JOHN P. WARE, ) Inspectors JOHN McGRATH, $ of Election.
Doc. No. 85.] 678
We, the Inspectors of Election for the First district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the fol¬ lowing is a correct statement of the votes given for each can¬ didate voted for in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Constables for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and eight, of which Robert H. Morris re¬ ceived two hundred and twenty-eight votes, J. Phillips Phoe¬ nix received one hundred and seventy-six votes, Thomas F. Field received two votes, Isaac L. Varian received one vote, and one vote was blank.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man, was three hundred and ninety-five, of which Clarkson Crolius, Jr. received one hundred and ninety votes, James Ferris received one hundred votes, William Shaler received one hundred and three votes, W. Shaler received one vote, and Leonard Cocker received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman, was three hundred and ninety-three, of which Richard H. Atwell received one hundred and eighty-six votes, Thomas S. Henry received one hundred and seven votes, Daniel M. Hogan received ninety-eight votes, C. Crolius re¬ ceived one vote, and John Bardell received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor', was seven hundred and seventy-six, of which Samuel Roome received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, John Heath received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, Shivers Parker received one hundred and seven votes, E. J. McGloin received one hundred and five votes, Michael Hanavan re¬ ceived ninety-three votes, James Maguire received ninety- five votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor, was three hundred and eighty-four, of which Owen W.
679
[Doc. No. 85,
Brennan received one hundred and eighty-nine votes, An* drew Connolly received one hundred and three votes, James O’Neil received ninety-two votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble, was seven hundred and seventy-one, of which Martin T. Waters received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, Phi¬ lander Fisk received one hundred and eighty-nine votes, William B. Scally received one hundred and one votes, William Nealis received one hundred and three votes, Pa¬ trick Burns received ninety-two votes, William A. Brown re¬ ceived ninety-six votes, Martin Waters received one vote, and P. Fisk received one vote.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this thirteenth day of April, in the year 1842.
W. B. WORRALL, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the First district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute Wade B. Worrall one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the thirteenth day of April, 1842.
W. B. WORRALL, Inspector of Election.
The undersigned, Inspectors of Election from the several election districts in the Sixth ward of the City of New York, state that they have made returns of the whole number of votes cast in said ward at the Charter Election held in said 3
Doc. No. 85.]
680
City, on the twelfth day of April, 1842, upon which they* considered it to be their duty to decide. They state that a riot occurred at the house in which the poll of the First election district was held, and that as there might be some difference of opinion as to the legality of the canvass in said district, owing to a temporary absence of the Inspectors dur¬ ing the riot, they have thought proper to make return of all the votes of all the districts except those of the First district, which they have excluded from the general return of the votes cast in the ward, and have appended to the general return a certified return of all the votes cast in said First election district, as they verily believe.
The undersigned further state, that the inclusion or ex¬ clusion of the votes of said First district, could not in any way vary the result of the said election, so far as the persons voted for are concerned, and that they have therefore granted certificates to the persons respectively having the greatest number of votes for Alderman and Assistant Alderman of said Sixth ward, as being the only way for themselves con¬ scientiously to perform their duty as Inspectors of Election.
New York, 13th, April 1842.
WADE B. WORRALL, Inspector of Election 1st dist. JOS. P. PIRSSON, “ “ 2 d “
LESTER WILSON, “ “ 3 d “
JOHN P. WARE, “ “ 4 th
We, the undersigned, Inspectors of Election for the sever¬ al districts of the Sixth ward, of the City of New York, de¬ puted according to law, to add together and compute the vote given to each person voted for in the several districts of said ward, and to make a return of the same in the manner required by law, do certify, that at an election duly held in said ward, on the twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, for the election of Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collec¬ tor, and Constables, for the said ward,
681
[Doc. No. 85.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Alder¬ man of said ward, was fourteen hundred and forty-two, of which Clarkson Crolius, Junior, received five hundred and sixty-one votes, James Ferris received four hundred and ninety-four votes, William Shaler received three hundred and eighty-seven votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman of said ward, was fourteen hundred and twen¬ ty-six, of which Richard H. Atwell received four hundred and fifty-six votes, Thomas S. Henry received five hundred and four votes, Daniel M. Hogan received three hundred and sixty-four votes, scattering two votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor of said ward, was two thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, of which Samuel Roome received five hundred and sixty-three votes, John Heath received five hundred and fifty-seven votes, Michael Hanavan received three hundred and sixty eight votes, James Maguire received three hundred and sixty votes, Shivers Parker received five hundred and three votes, Edward J. McGloin received five hundred and six votes, and scattering four votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor of said ward, was fourteen hundred and nineteen, of which Owen W. Brennan received five hundred and seventy votes, James O’Neil received three hundred and fifty-four votes, Andrew Connolly received four hundred and ninety- one votes, and scattering four votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble of said ward, was twenty-eight hundred and thirty-five, of which Philander Fisk received five hundred and sixty- two votes, Martin T. Waters received five hundred and fifty votes, William D. Scally received five hundred votes, Wil¬ liam Nealis received four hundred and ninety-five votes, Pa¬ trick Burns received three hundred and sixty-four votes, Wil¬ liam A. Brown received three hundred and sixty-one votes, and three scattering votes.
Doc. No. 85.]
682
We, the said Inspectors, do therefore declare, that the fol¬ lowing persons were, by the greatest number of votes, at the election aforesaid, elected to the offices set opposite their re¬ spective names, viz :
Clarkson Crolius, Junior, Alderman.
Richard H. Atwell, Assistant Alderman.
f Assessors.
Samuel Roome, J John Heath,
Owen W. Brennan, Collector. Philander Fisk, ) ~ . , ,
Martin T. Waters, ( Constable!
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, this fourteenth day of April, in the year 1842.
JOSEPH P. PIRSSON, ) Inspectors W. B. WORRALL, l of L. WILSON, i Election.
JOHN P. WARE, >
68:
[Doc. No. 85.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the First district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the fol¬ lowing is a correct statement of the votes given for each candidate voted for in the said district, on the twelfth day of April, in the year for 1842, the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Col¬ lector and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and eight, of which Robert H. Morris re¬ ceived two hundred and twenty-eight, J. Phillips Phoenix received one hundred and sixty-six, Thomas F. Field re ceived two votes, Isaac L. Varian received one vote, and one vote was blank.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man, was three hundred and ninety-five, of which Clarkson Crolius, Jr., received one hundred and ninety votes, James Ferris received one hundred votes, William Shaler received one hundred and three votes, W. Shaler received one vote, and Leonard Crocker received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman, was three hundred and ninety-three, of which Richard H. Atwell received one hundred and eighty-six votes, Thomas S. Henry received one hundred and seven votes, Daniel M. Hogan received ninety-eight votes, C. Cro¬ lius received one vote, and John Bardell received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was seven hundred and seventy-six, of which Samuel Roome received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, John Heath received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, Shivers Parker received one hundred and seven votes, E. J. McGloin received one hundred and five votes, Michael Hanavan re¬ ceived ninety-three votes, James Maguire received ninety- five votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Col¬ lector, was three hundred and eighty-four, of which Owen W. Brennan received one hundred and eighty-nine votes,
Doc. No. 85.]
684
Andrew Connolly received one hundred and three votes, and James O’Neil received ninety-two votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Con¬ stable, was seven hundred and seventy-one, of which Martin T. Waters received one hundred and eighty-eight votes, Philander Fisk received one hundred and eighty-nine votes, William B. Scally received one hundred and one votes, William Nealis, received one hundred and three votes, Patrick Burns received ninety-two votes, Martin Waters re¬ ceived one vote, P. Fisk received one vote, and William A. Brown received ninety-six votes.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this thirteenth day of April, in the year 1842.
W. B. WORRALL, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the First District of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute Wade B. Worrall one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the thirteenth instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the thirteenth day of April, 1842.
W. B. WORRALL, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Second district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify that the following is a correct statement of the votes given for each candidate voted for in the said district, on the twelfth day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector and Constables, for the said ward.
685
[Doc. No. 85;
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and forty-five, of which Robert H. Morris received two hundred and sixty votes, and J. Phillips Phoe¬ nix received one hundred and eighty-five votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man, was four hundred and thirty-six votes, of which Clark¬ son Crolius, junior, received one hundred and eighty-nine votes, William Shaler received one hundred and seventy- seven votes, and James Ferris received seventy votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assis¬ tant Alderman, was four hundred and thirty-three votes, of which Richard H. Atwell received one hundred and eighty- seven votes, Daniel M. Hogan received one hundred and sixty-seven votes, and Thomas S. Henry received seventy- seven votes.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was eight hundred and sixty three, of which Samuel Roome received one hundred and ninety-one votes, John Heath received one hundred and eighty-seven votes, Michael Hanavan received one hundred and sixty-five votes, James Maguire received one hundred and sixty-four votes, Shivers Parker received seventy-four votes, Edward J. McGloin re¬ ceived seventy-nine votes, Charles Del Yecchio received one vote, William H. Sparks received one vote, and Edward Bunnell received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor, was four hundred and thirty-four votes, of which Owen W. Brennan received one hundred and ninety-nine votes, James O’Neil received one hundred and fifty-eight votes, Andrew Connolly received seventy-six votes, and William B. Willis received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Con¬ stable, was eight hundred and fifty-eight, of which Philan¬ der Fisk received one hundred and ninety votes, Martin T. Waters received one hundred and ninety-one votes, Patrick Burns received one hundred and sixty-five votes, William
Ooc. No. 85.]
686
A. Brown received one hundred and sixty-eight votes, Wil¬ liam D. Scally received seventy-three votes, William Nealis received seventy votes, and John Bennett received one vote.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this thirteenth day of April, in the year 1842.
JOSEPH P. PIRSSON, 1 Inspectors AARON CLARK, \ of
MATTHEW MURRAY. ) Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the Second district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute Aaron Clark one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the 13th day of April 1842.
JOSEPH P. PIRSSON, ) Inspectors MATTHEW MURRAY. \ of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Third district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify, that the fol¬ lowing is a correct statement of the votes given for each can¬ didate voted for in the said district, on the 12th day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was five hundred and eighty-three, of which J. Phillips Phoe¬ nix received one hundred and twenty-four, Robert H. Morris received four hundred and fifty-eight, James Monroe receiv¬ ed one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Alder-
687 [Doc. No. 85.
man, was five hundred and sixty-eight, of which William Shaler received one hundred and twenty-nine, James Ferris received three hundred and four, Clarkson Crolius, Jr., re¬ ceived one hundred and thirty-five.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman, was five hundred and sixty five, of which D. M. Hogan received one hundred and twenty-two, T. S. Hen¬ ry received three hundred and eight, Richard H. Atwell re¬ ceived one hundred and thirty-five.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor, was eleven hundred and thirty-one, of which James McGuire received one hundred and twenty-one, M. Hanavan received one hundred and twenty-three, E. G. McGloin re¬ ceived three hundred and seven, S. Parker received three hundred and seven, S. Roome received one hundred and thirty-seven, John Heath received one hundred and thirty- five, A. Connolly received one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Collec¬ tor, was five hundred and sixty-two, of which James O’Neil received one hundred and twenty, A. Connolly received two hundred and ninety-nine, O. W. Brennan one hundred and forty, John Carland one, Win. Nealis one, and George Mil¬ ler one.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble, was eleven hundred and twenty-one, of which P. Burns received one hundred and twenty-four, W. A. Brown re¬ ceived one hundred and eighteen, Wm. Nealis received three hundred and four, W. D. Scaly received three hundred and two, Philander Fisk received one hundred and thirty-eight, M. T. Waters received one hundred and thirty-four, Pat’s Busy received one, Blank received three.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, this twelfth day of April, in the year 1842.
LESTER WILSON, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the Third district of the
Doc. No. 85.]
688
Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute L. Wilson, one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as maybe designated by the Common Council, on Wednes¬ day, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the twelfth day of April, 1842.
4 LESTER WILSON, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election for the Fourth district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do certify that the following is a correct statement of the votes given for each candidate voted for in the said district, on the twelfth day of April, in the year 1842, for the office of Mayor of the City of New York, Alderman, Assistant Alderman,. Assessors, Collector and Constables, for the said ward.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Mayor, was four hundred and sixty-five, of which Robert H. Morris received two hundred and thirty-six, J. Phillips Phoenix re¬ ceived two hundred and twenty-eight, and Thomas F. Field received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man, was four hundred and thirty-eight, of which Clarkson Crolius, jr. received two hundred and thirty-seven, William Shaler received eighty-one, and James Ferris received ons hundred and twenty.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assis¬ tant Alderman, was four hundred and thirty, of which Ri¬ chard H. Atwill received two hundred and thirty-four, Da¬ niel M. Hogan received seventy-five, Thomas S. Henry re¬ ceived one hundred and nineteen, Geo. B. Alvord received one vote, and P. S. Brady received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses-
689
[Doc. No. 85.
isor, was eight hundred and sixty-seven, of which Samuel Roome received two hundred and thirty-five, John Heath received two hundred and thirty-five, Shivers Parker re¬ ceived one hundred and twenty-two, Edward J. McGloin re¬ ceived one hundred and twenty, Michael Hanavan received eighty, and James Maguire seventy-five.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Col¬ lector, was four hundred and twenty-three, of which Gwen W. Brennan received two hundred and thirty-one, Andrew Connolly received one hundred and sixteen, and James O’Neil received seventy-six.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Con¬ stable, was eight hundred and fifty-six, of which Philander Fisk received two hundred and thirty-four, Martin T. Wa¬ ters received two hundred and twenty-five, William D. Scally received one hundred and twenty-five, William Nea- lis received one hundred and twefity-one, Patrick Burns re¬ ceived seventy-five, John Crowley received one, and Wil¬ liam A. Brown received seventy-five.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names this twelfth day of April, in the year 1842.
JOHN P. WARE, Inspector of Election.
We, the Inspectors of Election of the Fourth district of the Sixth ward of the City of New York, do hereby depute John P. Ware, one of the Inspectors aforesaid, to attend at such place as may be designated by the Common Council, on Wednesday, the 13th instant, between the hours of twelve o’clock at noon and one o’clock in the afternoon, and have delivered to him a certified copy of the votes given for each candidate voted for in said district, on the twelfth day of April, 1842.
Dated the thirteenth day of April, 1842.
JOHN P. WARE, Inspector of Election.
Doc. No. 85.]
690
We, the undersigned, Inspectors of Election for the seve¬ ral districts of the Twelfth ward of the City of New York, deputed according to law, to add together and compute the vote given to each person voted for in the several districts of said ward, and to make a return of the same in the man¬ ner required by law, do certify that at an election duly held in said ward, on the twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-two, for the elec¬ tion of Alderman, Assistant Alderman, Assessors, Collector, and Constables, for the said ward,
The whole number of votes given for the office of Aider- man of said ward, was ten hundred and thirty-two, of which Richard F. Carman received four hundred and eighty votes, and Abraham Y. Williams received three hundred and four votes, and Henry Brevoort received two hundred and thirty- four votes, and Richard Carman received five votes, and Hen¬ ry Brevoot received two votes, and R. Carman received two votes, and R. F. Carman, Henry Brevot, Robert F. Carman, H. Brevoort, and Ridard Carman, each received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Assist¬ ant Alderman of the said ward, was ten hundred and thirty- five, of which George W. Allerson received four hundred and forty-nine votes, and Samuel Osgood received three hun¬ dred and ninety votes, and Norman Hickok received one hundred and ninety-two votes, andNormo Hickok, and Nor¬ man Hickock, each received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Asses¬ sor of said ward, was two thousand and twenty, of which James Bowley received four hundred and sixty votes, and Abraham duackinbush received four hundred and thirty votes, and Jeremiah Towle received three hundred and fifty- seven votes, and John P. Dodge received two hundred and eighty-five votes, and John Murry received two hundred and forty-three votes, and Elisha Williams received one hundred and ninety-five votes, and E. Williams received nine votes, and A. V. Backer received six votes, and J. Murry, Joh Mur-
691
[Doc No. 85.
ry, John Mary, Alexander Pabor, Ebenezer Chase, 'and J. Murray, each received two votes, Joanna Tone, Elitia Wil¬ liams, Jeremiah Tole, Cornelius Westerfield, Mury, Alexan¬ der Paibor, John Murrey, Alex. Pabor, and Simon Pabor, each received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Col¬ lector of said ward, was ten hundred and five, of which Al¬ bert V. Backer received five hundred and thirty-six votes, and Peter Randall received four hundred and fifty-seven votes, and A. V. Backer received nine votes, and Dan Carl received two votes, and R. Burling received one vote.
The whole number of votes given for the office of Consta¬ ble of said ward, was two thousand and forty-four, of which Henry Force received five hundred and sixty-eight votes, and Thomas Smith received four hundred and forty-eight votes, and John Read received four hundred and twenty- nine votes, and Robert Thompson received three hundred and thirty-eight votes, and Thomas Carlon received two hundred and forty-eight votes, and H. Force received three votes, and T. Carlon, R. Thompson, and Thompson, each received two votes, and Thomas Carvill, Thomas M. Force, Thomas Carolan, Tom Smith, Thos. Smith, Thom. Read, J. Reed, Read, and Charles H. Clark, each received one vote.
In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names, this the thirteenth day of April, in the year 1842, C. H. CLARK, l Inspectors of GEORGE PARK, \ Election ,
Doc. No. 85.]
692
AFFIDAVITS.
Jeremiah Towle, of the Twelfth ward, doth depose and say, that he held a conversation with Mr. Allerton, who re¬ ceived the largest vote for Assistant Alderman of the Twelfth ward, at a public house at Yorkville, on the evening of Thursday, the 14th instant, and in the course of the conver¬ sation, deponent stated that there was a report in circulation that the said Allerton was not a resident of the Twelfth ward at the time of the election, and inquired of the said Allerton whether such report was true, and Mr. Allerton replied, that he would not tell a lie to save his seat in the Common Council, that the facts of the case were as follows: that he was preparing a house in the Twelfth ward, but had not as yet moved into it ; that his wife had recently been confined, but was not able to move previous to the election ; that he still lived in the Sixteenth ward, his wife and family being there. Deponent also inquired whether he had voted in the Twelfth ward last Fall, and was answered in the nega¬ tive ] and deponent further understood the said Allerton to say, that he did not vote at the recent election. Whereupon deponent informed the said Allerton that he considered the votes cast for him were illegal, and that Mr. Osgood would be entitled to his seat; and further this deponent saith not.
J. TOWLE.
Sworn to the 15th day of April, 1842.
F. A. Tallmadge.
City and County of New York, ss: Joseph P. Flynn, of corner Twentieth street and Sixth avenue, being duly sworn,
693
[Doc. No. 85.
says, that on Monday evening, the 11th of April, 1842, he went to the Bull’s Head, corner of Third avenue and Twenty-fourth street, to pay George W. Allerton, Esq., some money, when this deponent said to Mr. Allerton, “Why, George, they are going to run you for Assistant Alderman, on the whig ticket, in the Twelfth ward,” he replied, “Yes, they wanted me to go and sleep in the Twelfth ward this night,” this deponent then asked him if he would do it, he replied, “ No.” This conversation took place between eight and nine o’clock in the evening.
JOSEPH P. FLYNN.
Sworn to before me, this 15th day of April, 1842.
Jno. W. C. Leveridge,
Comm’r of Deeds.
City of New York, ?
County of New York, )
John Pettigrew being duly sworn, deposeth and says, that he resides at 137 Tenth street, in the City of New York, that on the 13th day of April, 1842, he met George W. Allerton on the corner of Twelfth street and Third avenue, and asked him if he had been elected Assistant Alderman of the Twelfth ward, he replied, he thought not, as a great many of his friends had erased his name, and placed the name of Mr. Osgood on the ticket, because he, (George W. Allerton) did not reside in the Twelfth ward. Deponent then asked him if he did not reside in that ward, to which he answered, his family resided in Third avenue, by Twenty-first street, but that he had a place in the Twelfth ward; the conversation then turned to other subjects, and further the deponent saith not.
JOHN PETTIGREW.
Sworn before me, this 15th day of April, 1842.
Frederick R. Lee,
Aid. Seventeenth ward.
Doe. No. 85.]
694
Jeremiah Towle, of the Twelfth ward, doth depose and say, that he held a conversation with Mr. Allerton, who re¬ ceived the largest vote for Assistant Alderman of the Twelfth Ward, at a public house at Yorkville, on the evening of Thursday, the 14th instant, and in the course of the conversa¬ tion, deponent stated that there was a report in circulation that he, the said Allerton, was not a resident of the Twelfth ward at the time of the election, and enquired of the said Allerton whether such reports were true, and Mr. A. replied that he would not tell a lie to save his seat in the Common Council ; that the facts of the case were as follows, viz. : that he was preparing a house in the Twelth ward, but had not as yet moved into it; that his wife had recently been confined, but was not able to move ; that previous to the election he still lived in the Sixteenth ward, his wife and family being there. Deponent also inquired whether he had voted in the Twelfth ward last Fall, and was answered in the negative; and deponent further understood the said Al- lcrton to say, that he did not vote at the recent election; whereupon deponent informed the said Allerton that he con¬ sidered the votes cast for him were illegal, and that Mr. Os¬ good would be entitled to his seat. Deponent does not swear that the above was the exact language of the said conversa¬ tion, but that it was the substance of it.
J. TOWLE.
Samuel Bradhurst. April 15, 1842.
Samuel Bradhurst being duly sworn, doth depose and say,, that he has heard the above affidavit of Jeremiah Towle read to George W. Allerton, and he acknowledged the same
to be true.
SAMUEL BRADHURST. Sworn before me this 16th day of April, 1842.
H. W. Merritt,
Special Justice, &c.
695
[Doc. No. 85.
City and County of New York, ss: David I. Chatfield, of said City and County, being duly sworn, says, that he resides in Twenty-first street, near the Third avenue, in the Six¬ teenth ward of the City and County of New York ; that this deponent is acquainted with Mr, George W. Allerton, of said City and County, who resides in the Third avenue, one door above Twenty-first street; that said Allerton has resided there for about ten months last past; that this deponent has repeatedly seen said Allerton about his premises, in the pur¬ suit of his business.
And this deponent further says, that in the latter end of the week last past, he had a conversation with said Allerton, about his place of residence; that said Allerton then inform¬ ed this deponent that he resided in the Sixteenth ward of the City of New York, but that it was his intention to remove in the Twelfth ward of said City, and was prevented from so doing on account of the sickness of his wife ; that said Allerton told this deponent that he would not endanger the life of his wife for all the seats that could be given him.
And further deponent saith not.
DAVID I. CHATFIELD.
Sworn before me, this 18th day of April, A. D. 1842.
Isaac P. Martin,
Com’r of Deeds.
I certify that the preceding are true copies of certain affi¬ davits, filed in my office on the 19th April, 1842.
NATH’L JARVIS,
Clerk of the City and County of New York.
5
DOCUMENT No. 86.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
APRIL 18, 1842.
The following Act of the Legislature was received and referred to the Committee on Laws , #*c., with power to print.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
AN ACT
TO EXTEND TO THE CITY AND COUNTY OF NEW YORK THE PROVISIONS OF THE GENERAL ACT IN RELATION TO COMMON SCHOOLS.
[Passed April 9, 1842.]
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :
§ 1. There shall be elected, in each of the wards of the City and County of New York, two Commissioners, two Inspectors, and five Trustees of Common Schools, who shall
Doc. No. 86.]
692
be elected by ballot, at a special election to be held.on the first Monday of June in each year, by the persons qualified to vote for charter officers in the said wards; and to be con¬ ducted in the same manner, by the same Inspectors, at the same ward districts, and subject to the same laws, rules and regulations, as now govern the charter elections in said city.
The Commissioners of Common Schools, so elected, shall constitute a Board of Education for the City of New’ York ; a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum. They shall elect one of their number President of said Board, who shall preside at the meetings thereof, which shall be held at least as often as once in three months ; and they may ap¬ point a Clerk, whose compensation shall be fixed and paid by the Supervisors of said City and County.
The Commissioners So elected in each ward, shall be the Commissioners of Schools thereof, with the like powers and duties of Commissioners of Common Schools in the several towns in this State, except as hereinafter provided.
The said Inspectors of Common Schools, so elected in the several wards, shall have the like powers, and be subject to the same duties, with the Inspectors of Common Schools of the several towns of this State, except as hereinafter pro¬ vided.
The Trustees of Common Schools, so elected in their re¬ spective wards, shall be the Trustees of the School Districts which may be formed and organized therein, with the like powers and duties as the Trustees of School Districts in the several towns in this State, except as hereinafter provided.
§ 2. All such provisions of the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth articles of title two, chapter fifteen, part first, of the Revised Statutes, and of the several Acts amending, and in addition to, and relating to, the same, not inconsistent with the provisions in this Act contained, shall be, and the same are hereby declared applicable to the City and County of New York.
§ 3. For all the purposes of this Act, each of the several
693
[Doc. No. 86.
wards into which the said City and County of New York now is, or may be hereafter divided, shall be considered as a separate town, and liable to all the duties imposed, and en¬ titled to all the powers, privileges, immunities and advan¬ tages granted by the said third, fourth, fifth and sixth ar¬ ticles of title two, chapter fifteen, part first, of the Revised Statutes, to the several towns in this State, so far as the same are consistent with this Act.
§ 4. The forty-fourth section of the Act entitled “An Act to amend the second title of the fifteenth chapter of the first part of the Revised Statutes, relating to common schools,” passed May 26, 1841, is hereby repealed; and all the other sections of the said Act, not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act, are hereby declared applicable to the City and County of New York.
§ 5. No compensation shall be allowed to the Commission¬ ers, Inspectors, or Trustees, of Common Schools, for any ser¬ vices performed by them, but the Commissioners and In¬ spectors shall receive their actual and reasonable expenses while attending to the duties of their office, to be audited and allowed by the Supervisors of said City and County.
§ 6. The said Commissioners of Common Schools, of each ward, are hereby authorized to appoint a Clerk, whose com¬ pensation shall be settled and paid by the Board of Super¬ visors.
§ 7. Whenever the Trustees elected in any ward shall certify in writing to the Commissioners and Inspectors of Common Schools thereof, that it is necessary to organize one or more schools in said ward, in addition to the schools men¬ tioned in the thirteenth section of this Act, it shall be the duty of said Commissioners and Inspectors to meet together and examine into the facts and circumstances of the case; and if they shall be satisfied of such necessity, they shall certify the same under their hands to the said Board of Edu¬ cation, and shall then proceed to organize one or more school districts therein, and shall procure a school house and all
Doc. No. 86.]
694
things necessary to organize a school in such district, the expense of which shall be levied and raised pursuant to the provisions of section nine of this Act, and the title to all lands purchased by virtue of this Act, with the buildings thereon, shall be vested in the City and County of New York.
§ 8. Whenever the Clerk of the City and County of New York shall receive notice from the Superintendent of Com¬ mon Schools, of the amount of moneys apportioned to the City and County of New York, for the support and encou¬ ragement of common schools therein, he shall immediately lay the same before the Supervisors of the City and County aforesaid.
§ 9. The said Supervisors shall annually raise, and collect by tax upon the inhabitants of said City and County, a sum of money equal to the sum specified in such notice at the same time and in the same manner as the contingent charges of the said City and County are levied and collected ; also, a sum of money equal to one-twentieth of one per cent, of the value of real and personal property in the said city lia¬ ble to be assessed therein, to be applied exclusively to the purposes of Common Schools in said city; and such further sum as maybe necessary for the support and benefit of Com¬ mon Schools in said City and County, to be raised, levied, and collected in like manner, and which shall be in lieu of all taxes and assessments to the support of Common Schools for said City and County:
§ 10. The said Supervisors shall, on or before the first day of May, in every year, direct that a sum of money equal to the amount last received by the Chamberlain of said City and County, from the Common School Fund, be deposited by him, together with the sum so received from the School Fund, in one of the incorporated banks in the said City and County, (such bank to be designated by the said Supervisors) to the credit of the Commissioners of Common Schools in each of the said several wards, in the proportions to which they shall respectively be entitled, and subject only to the
G95
[Doc. No. 86.
drafts of the said Commissioners respectively, who shall pay the amount apportioned to the several schools enumerated in the thirteenth section of this Act, to the Treasurer of the societies or schools entitled thereto, or to some person duly authorized by the Trustees of such societies or schools to receive the same.
§ 11. So much of the seventh article of title second, chap¬ ter fifteen, part first, of the Revised Statutes, and the several Acts amending and in addition to, and relating to the said article, as is specially applicable to the City and County of New York, and all other Acts, and all provisions therein, providing for, or directing or concerning the disbursing or appropriation of the funds created for, or applicable to, com¬ mon school education in the City and County of New York, and all and every provision for raising any fund, or for the imposition of any tax therefor, so far as the same are incon¬ sistent with this Act, are hereby repealed.
§ 12, All children between the ages of four and sixteen residing in said City and County, shall be entitled to attend any of the Common Schools therein; and the parents, guar¬ dians, or other persons, having the custody or care of such children, shall not be liable to any tax, assessment, or impo¬ sition, for the tuition of any such children, other than is hereinbefore provided.
§ 13. The schools of the Public School Society, the New York Orphan Asylum School, the Roman Catholic OrphanAsy- lum School, the Schools of the two Half Orphan Asylums, the School of the Mechanics’ School Society, the Harlem School, the Yorkville Public School, the Manhattanville Free School, the Hamilton Free School, the Institution for the Blind, the School connected with the Alms House of the said City, and the School of the Association for the Benefit of Colored Or¬ phans, shall be subject to the general jurisdiction of the said Commissioners of the respective wards in which any of the said schools now are, or hereafter may be located, subject to the direction of the Board of Education, but under the im-
Doc. No. 86.]
696
mediate government and management of their respective Trustees, Managers, and Directors, in the same manner, and to the same extent as herein provided, in respect to the Dis- trict Schools herein first before mentioned, in said city and county, and so far as relates to the distribution of the Com* mon School moneys, each of the said schools shall be Dis¬ trict Schools of the said City.
No school abovementioned, or which shall be organized under this Act, in which any religious sectarian doctrine or tenet shall be taught, inculcated or practiced, shall re¬ ceive any portion of the school moneys to be distributed by this Act, as hereinafter provided; and it shall be the duty of the Trustees, Inspectors and Commissioners of Schools in each ward, and of the Deputy Superintendent of Schools, from time to time, and as frequently as need be, to examine and ascertain, and report to the said Board of Education, whe¬ ther any religious sectarian doctrine or tenet shall have been taught, inculcated or practiced in any of the schools in their respective wards ; and it shall be the duty of, the Commis¬ sioners of Schools in the several wards, to transmit to the Board of Education all reports made to them by the Trus¬ tees and Inspectors of their respective wards. The Board of Education, and 'any member thereof) may at any time visit and examine any school subject to the provisions of this Act; and individual Commissioners shall report to the Board the result of their examinations.
§ 15. It shall be the duty of the said Board of Education to apply, for the use of the several districts, such moneys as shall be raised, to erect, purchase or lease school houses, or to procure the sites therefor; and also to apportion among the several schools and districts provided for by this Act, the school moneys to be paid over to the Commissioners of Schools in each ward, by virtue of the tenth section of this Act; and shall file with the Chamberlain of said City and County, on or before the fifteenth day of April in each year, a copy of such apportionment, and stating the amount
697
[Doc. No. 86.
thereof to be paid to the Commissioners of each ward; which apportionment shall be made among the said several schools and districts according to the average number of children over four and under sixteen years of age, who shall have actually attended such school the preceding year. But no such school shall be entitled to a portion of such moneys, that has not been kept open at least nine months in the year, or in which any religious, sectarian doctrine or tenet shall have been taught, inculcated or practiced, or which shall refuse to permit the visits and examinations provided for by this Act.
§ 16. The Commissioners of Schools of the respective wards, when they have received from the Chamberlain of said City and County the money apportioned to the several schools and districts in their several wards, shall apply the same to the use of the schools and districts in their several wards, according to the apportionment thereof, so made by the said Board of Education.
§ 17. The said Commissioners of each Ward shall, within fifteen days after their election, execute and deliver to the Su¬ pervisors aforesaid, a bond, with which such sureties as said Supervisors shall approve, in the penalty of double the amount of public money appropriated to the use of the com¬ mon schools of their respective wards, conditioned for the faithful performance of the duties of their office, and the proper application of all moneys coming in their hands for common school purposes; such bond shall be filed by the said Supervisors in the office of the County Clerk.
§ 18. This Act shall take effect immediately.
Doc. No. 86.]
698
State of New York, )
Secretary’s Office, \
I have compared the preceding with an original Act of the Legislature of this State, on file in this office, and do certify that the same is a correct transcript therefrom, and of the whole of said original.
S. YOUNG,
Secretary of State.
Albany, April 12, 1842.
DOCUMENT No. 87.
BOARD OF ALDERMEN,
MAY 9, 1842.
Report of the Committee on Lamps and Gas, in compli¬ ance with an Ordinance to provide for the accountabi¬ lity of Executive Committees of the Common Council Ordered on file.
SAMUEL J. WILLIS, Clerk.
The Committee on Lamps and Gas, in accordance of the provision made by ordinance requiring the accountability of executive and other Committees, beg leave respectfully to
REPORT:
That they have authorized a contract to be made with Messrs. D. & A. Kingsland, of this City, for fifteen thousand gallons summer strained sperm oil, at the rate of seventy-six and a half cents the gallon, subject to the usual allowance for casks to be returned. The above contract was authorized
700
Doc. No. 87.]
after proposals had been duly advertized, being the lowest price and approved quality.
fra LTUT "7 f ° al“h°riZed fOT ,wo tandred “1 1«>”P
to bT; * TJ ^ d0“ar t",elre Md a haIf each!
■o ba made with Messrs. I. «fc K. Du„„, „f this city, the pro!
dae idbe“f ' T” ma<ie t0 y°ur Committeef after ^the due advertisement for same.
EDWARD S. INNES, CALYIN BALIS.
DUE DATE
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